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

The McLaren team are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to change 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 basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

All teams this season have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

McLaren began this season with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear 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 failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise situation will become clear.