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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the manner we plan racing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we want to stay fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the title 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 title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from under their noses.

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

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins 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?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace 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 think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

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

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

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed 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 completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

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

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