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

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

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This is the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea 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 old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims 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 face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the car performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, 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 hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

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

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to 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 Monegasque completed his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

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

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

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

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will become clear.