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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to change their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the way we intend racing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead 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 lean on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

McLaren began this season with the best car, after putting 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 value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep delivering strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now 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 "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction 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 preferred circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.