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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to change their strategy to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, 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 make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning 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 most recent occasion the regulations changed.

The McLaren team started this year with the fastest car, after investing a lot of technical development 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 getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and continue executing strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed 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 Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

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

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

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 prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise situation will emerge.