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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

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

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

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race 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 drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

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

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

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

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

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the teams are looking 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 power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 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 emerge.