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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their approach to running the team.

They will persist to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella said following the race in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

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

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

All teams this year have had to face 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 2026.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. 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.

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

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently 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 his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - 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 change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.