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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This remains the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, 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 make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on This Year's Car?

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum 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 Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start 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 - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

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

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless race."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; 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 Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time 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 initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.