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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their method to managing the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This represents the way we plan racing. This remains the method in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

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

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

Andrea Stella stated following the race in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean 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 third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

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

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.