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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to alter their method to managing the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we plan racing. This remains the method in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase 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 recall at least 2007, 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 determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

The McLaren team started this year with the fastest car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull 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 Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both 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 say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - 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 understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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