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

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they don't believe to alter their method to managing the team.

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

"This represents the approach we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend 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 the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

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

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

All teams this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor gets it wrong 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 the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

McLaren began this year with the fastest car, after investing a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct premise. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction 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 Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Until the cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the constructors are looking next year.

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

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of sense of relative performance emerges.

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