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

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to change their strategy 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 equanimity.

"This represents the way we plan racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Stella commented after the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually 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."

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

All teams this season have had to confront 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 Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start 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 the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

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

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

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