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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to change their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This is the manner we plan competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 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 make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to focus 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 F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor 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 continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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