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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to change their strategy to running the team.

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

"This represents the manner we plan competing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we want to stay fair, and we want to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision 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, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

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 stated he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

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

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

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max 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?

Before the cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

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

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