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

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

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

"This is the approach we plan competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed 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 title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

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

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Albon currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

He is now much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer 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 claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules 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 understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate picture will emerge.