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

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to alter their method to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

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

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 get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep delivering good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless race."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next season 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 switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

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

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will know how the teams are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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