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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 confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to modify their approach to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore 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 someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

Sainz and Albon do now look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths 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 tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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

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

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing next year.

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

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

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.