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

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This is the approach we intend competing. This remains the method in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time 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 reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

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

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to understand 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 18-20 February will be the first time a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

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