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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter their method to running the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This is the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Stella commented following the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined 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 third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

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

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant 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 catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

The McLaren team started this season with the best car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice 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 Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result of this season 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 Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos 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 now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has described many times this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe most in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise picture will emerge.