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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to running the team.

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

"This is the way we plan racing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the championship and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma 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 Formula 1, 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 catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit 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 did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. 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.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Sainz and Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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 battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

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

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, 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 February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.