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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to alter 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 fairness and balance.

"This is the way we intend competing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

All teams this season have had to confront the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising 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 performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

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

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

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

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 only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.