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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to alter their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan racing. This remains the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

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

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and keep executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix 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 outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying 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 previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.