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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to alter their method to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 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 final race of the season and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

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

All teams 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 significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

The McLaren team started this year with the best car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Both Hamilton and 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 fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate picture will emerge.