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

The McLaren team are well aware of the difficulty they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to alter their approach to running the team.

They will persist to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This is the approach we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said after the race in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the conundrum of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear 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 Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has hasn't 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 accept their statements.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise situation will become clear.