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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their approach to managing the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually 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 This Year's Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

McLaren started this season with the fastest car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

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

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult 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 Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir 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 true and accurate situation will emerge.