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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their method to running the team.

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

"This represents the way we plan competing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

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

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

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

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new underfloor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

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

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

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

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not all struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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