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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their strategy to running the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the way we intend racing. This is the method in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

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

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to 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 closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. 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 rules were modified.

The McLaren team started this season with the fastest car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy 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 car remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising 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 performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Both 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 currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.