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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This represents the approach we plan racing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact 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 Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and keep delivering strong 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 execute a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

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 it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes 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 always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.