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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to running the team.

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

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

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, 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 catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull 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 improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

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

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year 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 all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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