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

The McLaren team are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the manner we plan competing. This is the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

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

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

All teams this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 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 year, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time 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 initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will become clear.