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

The McLaren team are well aware of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their method to running the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the previous points system in two races to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this season have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question 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 now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

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

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

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this way.

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 changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.