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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 obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their approach to running the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the approach we plan competing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the dilemma of for 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 the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

The McLaren team began this season with the fastest car, after putting 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 looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or race.

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred 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 best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.