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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

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

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

"This represents the manner we plan competing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

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

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

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

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate picture will emerge.