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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to change their approach to managing the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and balance.

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

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on This Year's Car?

All teams this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team 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 - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

McLaren began 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 while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and continue executing strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, 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 Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season 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 completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

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

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

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

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

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

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.