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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their method to running the team.

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

"This is the way we plan competing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum 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 scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation 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 get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

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

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

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

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have talked about 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 fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

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

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.