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

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their method to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

Stella said after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions 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 it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 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 pre-season testing next season, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to understand 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 first time some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise picture will become clear.