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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to alter their method to running the team.

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

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

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Stella said after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, 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 catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

The McLaren team began this season with the fastest car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a large 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 Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly qualifying 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 previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, no-one 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 understand their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

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