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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their method to managing the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This is the manner we intend competing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen 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 title as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently 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 "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.