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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to alter their approach to running the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This is the approach we intend competing. This remains the philosophy in which we tackle competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team boss Andrea Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella commented after the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can remember at least the 2007 season, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on This Year's Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant regulation change scheduled for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

The McLaren team started this season with the fastest car, after investing a lot of technical development into their 2025 season design.

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

Red Bull have closed the gap since bringing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, 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 Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

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

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

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

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I believe the majority in F1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars are driven for the first time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are performing in the upcoming season.

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

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the first race that the true and accurate situation will emerge.