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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to running the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said after the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

All teams this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver 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. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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 year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

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

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February 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 emerge.