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Do 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 Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their approach to managing the team.

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

"This represents the way we plan racing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and keep delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted 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 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.