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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their approach to managing the team.

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

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars run 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 teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

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

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