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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter their method to managing the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and balance.

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

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella commented following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 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 underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

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

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

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or race.

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Until the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.