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

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

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

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This is the way in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in 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 commented after the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change coming for 2026.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team principal 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 must continue maximising the performance and keep executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now performing much better.

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

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

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

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

Both Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted 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 great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars are driven for the first time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise situation will become clear.