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

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

They will continue to give their two drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This is the manner we intend competing. This remains the way in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain equitable, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He claimed the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this season 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 significant regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new underfloor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed 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 struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing next year.

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 power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

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

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the complete and precise picture will emerge.