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

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to running the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the approach we plan racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

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

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

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes 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 - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and keep executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a significant chance, and the result of this season and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

He is now significantly nearer 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 mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

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

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines 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 some kind of indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise picture will become clear.