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

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to running the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This represents the way we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated following the race in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

The McLaren team started this season with the best car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this year.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; 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 instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

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

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

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise picture will become clear.