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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to alter 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 foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the manner we intend racing. This is the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

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

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

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 expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

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

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

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.