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

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their approach to managing the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This is the way we intend competing. This remains the method in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

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

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

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

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change coming for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the car performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves 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 not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" 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 significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the teams are looking next year.

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

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.