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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to alter their approach 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 balance.

"This is the way we plan racing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

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

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

Every team this year have had to face the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

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

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

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

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 consistently, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

He is now much closer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

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

Before the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

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