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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to modify their approach to managing the team.

They will persist to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This represents the approach we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella commented after the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"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 in fact the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

Every team 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 major rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

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

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny 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 comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise picture will become clear.