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Must McLaren Face the Truth 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 championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This is the way we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella commented following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to concentrate 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 Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

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

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, 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 performance."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

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

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

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

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next year, nobody will know how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

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