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

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to managing the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the way we plan racing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

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

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

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

All teams this season have had to face the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

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

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted 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 great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

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

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.