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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

The McLaren team 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 modify their approach to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This is the way we plan racing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. 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 past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome 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 completely correct basis. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this season, 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 his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the media.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise picture will emerge.