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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 difficulty they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to alter their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we plan competing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In Formula 1, it's usually 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 last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

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

"We must keep maximising the car performance and continue 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 season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely correct premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Sainz and Albon currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.