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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 obstacle they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

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

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Stella said following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

Every team this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time 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 changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

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