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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to change their strategy to running the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella said after the race in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

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

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

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

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation 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 get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

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

"So definitely we have a large chance, 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 Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, 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 his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

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

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