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Do McLaren Face the Truth 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 Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to running the team.

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

"This is the way we plan racing. This remains the method in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won 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 Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said following the race in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 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 close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

All teams this season have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are performing next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.