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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

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

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

"This is the way we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

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

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

Stella commented after the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the 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 title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

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

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver 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 now, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

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

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

Before the cars run 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 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes 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 some kind of sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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