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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their approach to managing the team.

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

"This is the manner we plan competing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Stella said after the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

The McLaren team 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 period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed 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 entirely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Carlos 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 Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

He is now much closer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted 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 sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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