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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This represents the way we plan racing. This is the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

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

And he lost the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to 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 go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

Every team this year have had to face the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, 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 most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 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 behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say 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 really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

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

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 emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate situation will become clear.