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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to alter their method to managing the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

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

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] 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 The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull 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 continued to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy 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 Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

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

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.