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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This is the approach we intend racing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

The McLaren team began this season with the fastest car, after putting a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this year.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.