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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their approach to managing the team.

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

"This represents the approach we plan racing. This remains the method in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change coming 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 rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

McLaren started this season with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and keep delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

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

There is a lot for a 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.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the F1 cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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