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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their strategy to running the team.

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

"This is the approach we intend racing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

All teams this year have had to confront 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 regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

McLaren started this year with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 design.

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he believed Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently look very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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 currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; 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 Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise picture will emerge.