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

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the way we intend racing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said following the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on This Year's Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.