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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their method to managing the team.

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

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella said following the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past 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 make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

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

"We must keep optimising the performance and continue executing strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

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

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult 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 year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate picture will emerge.