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Must 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 confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their approach to running the team.

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

"This is the manner we intend racing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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 championship and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"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 [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

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

In F1, 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 rules were modified.

The McLaren team began this season with the best car, after putting a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise picture will become clear.