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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play 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 change their method to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and balance.

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

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when Ferrari messed up their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from their grasp.

Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall 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 close the door unless this is determined by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Development on This Year's Car?

All teams this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team principal Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and continue executing good race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not regularly, at least.

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed 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 season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Until the cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand 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 understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

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