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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to modify their method to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the way we intend racing. This is the method in which we approach competition, and we want to remain fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a 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 [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage 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 putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep delivering strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise 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 someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

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

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is consistently 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 previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

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

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.