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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to change their method to managing the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan competing. This remains the way in which we approach competition, and we want to stay fair, and we want to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have caught up since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must keep maximising the car performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

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

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is regularly 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 Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on average Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

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

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate situation will become clear.