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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This remains the method in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented following 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 decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember 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 title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

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

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum 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 coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the performance and keep delivering strong race 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 execute a flawless performance."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship 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 question has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Each of 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 Ferrari - and he is hoping 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 get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Until the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around their first running 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 some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate picture will emerge.