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

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

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on 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 the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix 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 mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period 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 rules changed.

McLaren started this year with the best car, after investing a lot of innovation 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 achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently 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 Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging 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 year 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 Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

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

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

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

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

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

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.