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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to modify their approach to managing the team.

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

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

The McLaren team started this season with the fastest 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 looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Both Lewis 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 claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.