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

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their method to managing the team.

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

"This is the manner we plan competing. This is the philosophy 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 numerous title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella said after the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

Every team this year have had to confront 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 significant regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant 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 Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

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

The first test, 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 press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will become clear.