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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 well aware of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to modify their method to managing the team.

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

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the title as engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the next five races as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

Every team this year have had to confront 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 regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's typically the case that if a team gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to 2026, it became an easy choice to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Stella said he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Texas had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

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

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

Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next season will benefit his driving style; he has never particularly liked 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 described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this way.

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

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

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next year, no-one will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion some kind of sense of comparative speed emerges.

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