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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

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

They will continue to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This is the manner we intend competing. This is the way in which we approach racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

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

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

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis 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 say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise picture will become clear.