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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their approach to running 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 remains the method in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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 Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, 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 determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear 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 not beaten Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

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

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

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging 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 hoping 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 driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges 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 F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise picture will become clear.