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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we plan competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella commented following the race in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

McLaren started this year with the fastest car, after putting a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently 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 Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are looking next year.

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

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.