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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to change their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we plan competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

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

And he lost the championship as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential 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 control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season 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 Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

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