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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

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

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship 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 secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the championship. 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 season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, 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 last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop 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 the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention 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 car remains competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

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

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; 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 explained many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

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

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.