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

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

They will persist to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This is the approach we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. 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 races to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, 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 closed by mathematics."

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

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start 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 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 putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

They continued to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

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

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 say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not all struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed emerges.

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