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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to modify their approach to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella said following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

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

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

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

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

Before the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

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

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