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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to alter their approach to running the team.

They will persist to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we plan racing. This is the method in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race 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 closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct premise. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

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

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time 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 sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.