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

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

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

"This is the manner we intend competing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively 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 claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They continued 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 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted 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 great deal for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect 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 year, nobody will know how the teams are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise picture will become clear.