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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 challenge they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This is the approach we intend competing. This remains the method in which we approach racing, and we want to remain equitable, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the final race of the championship and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said following the race in Austin: "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 lean on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning 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 - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted 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 great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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