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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to change their method to running the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

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

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

Stella said after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"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 wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing much better.

Sainz and Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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 it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

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

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

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 all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their first running 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 first time some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise situation will become clear.