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

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

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

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

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money 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 closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

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

"So definitely we have a large chance, 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 Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions 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 four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are performing next year.

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

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

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