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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to running the team.

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

"This represents the manner we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Stella said after the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. 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 started this season with the best car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise situation will emerge.