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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the approach we plan racing. This is the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the championship 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 lost the championship as engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum 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 coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at 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 investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

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

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep delivering strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand 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 press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 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 true and accurate situation will emerge.