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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to modify their method to managing the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This is the manner we intend competing. This is the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

Every team this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to concentrate 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 case that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or race.

He is currently much closer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.