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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to managing the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we plan racing. This is the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the final race of the championship and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Andrea Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. 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 confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

McLaren 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 reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Carlos 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 Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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 was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.