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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

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

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for 2026.

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 long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon do now look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

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

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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