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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to change their method to running the team.

They will persist to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the manner we intend racing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

The McLaren team began this year with the best car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct premise. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is now much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.