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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to running the team.

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

"This represents the approach we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed 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 races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

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

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

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

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 long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

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

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

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

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

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 battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging 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 the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

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

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