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Do 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 face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to running the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella said following the race in Texas: "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 exclusively be determined by mathematics."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

The McLaren team began this year with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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 battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

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