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

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

They will persist to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan competing. This remains the method in which we approach competition, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the final race of the season and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Stella commented after the race in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront 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 major regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

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

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate situation will become clear.