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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

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

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the manner we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to apply equal treatment to both 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 driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Stella stated following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

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

All teams this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change 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 rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

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

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their updated underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the car performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

Until the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.