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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to modify their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the way we plan competing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, 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.

Andrea Stella commented following the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

The McLaren team began this season with the fastest car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

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

"We must continue maximising the car performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that both Lewis 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 look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

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

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their first running 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 initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.