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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their method to running the team.

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

"This represents the approach we plan racing. This is the method in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

McLaren began this season with the best car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, 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 race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

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

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 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 complete and precise picture will emerge.