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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to running the team.

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

"This represents the manner we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

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

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

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis 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 understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.