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

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their approach to running the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This is the method in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella stated after the race in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

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

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. 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 rules were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

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

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion 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 emerge.