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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we plan racing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix 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 the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease 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 making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time 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 regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has not beaten 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 regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Barcelona 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 media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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