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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to alter their strategy 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 equity and balance.

"This represents the way we intend competing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella stated after the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team 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 rules changed.

The McLaren team started this season with the best car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and keep delivering strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct premise. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex 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, at least.

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

He is now much closer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

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

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

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

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

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

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