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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This represents the way we plan racing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

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

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

All teams this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion 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 average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for example, 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 believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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