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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This is the way we plan competing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team 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 benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct premise. It's true that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

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

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

Each of Lewis Hamilton and 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 fully adapted 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 racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

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

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

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