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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their strategy to managing the team.

They will persist to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we plan competing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

And he lost the title as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Stella said following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, 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 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before the cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

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

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.