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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to managing the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This is the manner we plan competing. This remains the method in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

All teams this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

McLaren started this year with the fastest car, after putting 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 evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

Sainz and Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

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

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.