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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the way we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision 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, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

McLaren began this year with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

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

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is now much closer than he was. He is regularly 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 Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and 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 expecting the regulation changes 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 switch teams, as Hamilton has explained 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 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

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