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

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach 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 determined by the calculations."

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

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

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

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

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and keep executing good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, 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 his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny 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 indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.