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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

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

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

"This represents the way we plan competing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the title from their grasp.

Andrea Stella stated after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

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

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

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

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

Sainz and Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

He is currently much closer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even currently 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 change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the F1 cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, 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 scrutiny of the press.

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

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