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

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

They will persist to give their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This is the manner we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

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

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, 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 close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning 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 - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the car performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; 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 explained many times this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the teams are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.