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

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter 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 fairness and balance.

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss 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 racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost 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 season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella commented following the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

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

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case 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 benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

McLaren started this season with the best car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will become clear.