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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to modify their approach to running the team.

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

"This represents the manner we plan competing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay fair, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He claimed the title as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Stella commented following the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to face the dilemma of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor 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 benefit can continue for some time - look at the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not finished behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and continue delivering good weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance 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 control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc very often at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

He is currently much closer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

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

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's hard to claim 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 switch teams, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand 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 sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise picture will become clear.