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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to alter their method to managing the team.

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

"This is the manner we intend competing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay equitable, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to 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 determined by mathematics."

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

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix 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 drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring 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 regularly, at least.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate picture will become clear.