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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to change their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This remains the way in which we approach competition, and we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

McLaren began this year 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 reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

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

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

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

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

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next year 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 Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

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

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

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

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

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