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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the approach we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a 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 go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon currently appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

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

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

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