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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their approach to running the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This is the manner we intend competing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

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

And he lost the title as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the final race of the championship and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

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

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

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

McLaren started this year with the best car, after putting 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 getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"So definitely 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."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise situation will emerge.