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

The McLaren team are well aware of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their approach to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain equitable, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He won the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the title, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the championship from their grasp.

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this season 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 major regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

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

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect performance."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the outcome of this championship and the drivers' championship 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 correct premise. It's true that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

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

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

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

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this year.

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

Hamilton would not say even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

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.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

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

Before the cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are performing next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise situation will become clear.