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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their method to managing the team.

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

"This is the approach we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to stay fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella commented following the race in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

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

In Formula 1, it's typically 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 last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor 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 Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

Sainz and Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is now 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 summer break.

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

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - 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 racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the teams are performing next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

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

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