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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to change their strategy to managing the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as race 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 Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong 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 most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the outcome 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?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or race.

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

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

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer 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 expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time 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 first time a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

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