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

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their method to running the team.

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

"This is the approach we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, 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 began this year with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

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

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

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

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

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

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

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. 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 struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of sense of comparative speed emerges.

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