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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to alter their approach to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we plan racing. This is the method in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Stella commented following the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

The McLaren team 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 while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the car performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now much closer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted 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 driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise picture will emerge.