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

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

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

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

Hamilton has failed to outperform 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 setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

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

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

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

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 all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

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

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.