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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to change their method to running the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the car performance and keep executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

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

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos 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 completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping 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 switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.