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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to change their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the manner we plan racing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. 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 past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

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

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

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship 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 accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

He is now much closer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

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

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate picture will emerge.