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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 fully conscious of the obstacle they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their strategy to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the way we plan racing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella said after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact 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 Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning 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 the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the car performance and continue executing good 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 flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best 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 racer this year.

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

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the teams are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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