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

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their approach to running the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to both 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 racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said after the race in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to 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 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

Every team this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

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

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and continue executing good 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 deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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

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 Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.