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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the obstacle they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to alter their method to running the team.

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

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

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Kimi 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 missed out on the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that claims 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 conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

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

"Therefore we have a significant chance, and the outcome 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, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate premise. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring much better.

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

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next season 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 Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not all struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, 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 teams wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

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

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