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

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

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

"This is the manner we intend competing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi 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 lost the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at 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 the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform 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 four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

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

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

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

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping 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 switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Until the cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise situation will emerge.