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Must McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their approach to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and equanimity.

"This represents the way we plan racing. This remains the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Stella commented following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by the numbers."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to focus 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 gets it wrong at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy choice to switch focus to the following season.

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

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep executing good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon currently look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or race.

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 Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed 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 all faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next year, nobody will understand how the teams are performing next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.