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

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

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

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

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella said after the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins 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?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 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 makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

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

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

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

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Both Lewis 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 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 understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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