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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their strategy to managing the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Stella said following the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

All teams this season have had to confront 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 constructor gets it wrong 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 - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

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

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

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

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