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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

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

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

"This is the manner we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the title as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the final race of the championship and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, 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 make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

All teams this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles 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 previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

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

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping 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 get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

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

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

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

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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