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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to change their method to running the team.

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

"This represents the way we plan competing. This remains the method in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

Every team this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

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

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is now much closer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

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

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will become clear.