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

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Max 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 persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This is the manner we intend racing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

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

He is now significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

Each of Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would expect not.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Until the cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to understand their first running of the power unit changes 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 becomes apparent.

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