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

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

They will persist to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the way we plan racing. This is the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the title as race 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 Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the outcome 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 Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is regularly setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

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

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - 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 get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the start of the 2023 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 Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.