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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter their method to managing the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

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

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

The McLaren team started this season with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 season 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 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen 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 hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

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

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will become clear.