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

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

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the manner we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the conundrum of how long to focus 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 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 last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue 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 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

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

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear very even. However, it's not so clear 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 year, either in qualifying or race.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the teams are looking next year.

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

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.