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

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

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This is the approach we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

Every team this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong 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 the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

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

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

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

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. 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 cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

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