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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to change their method to managing the team.

They will continue to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the manner we intend racing. This remains the way in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to sneak the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said following the Grand Prix in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances 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 experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must keep optimising the performance and keep executing good weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large chance, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the inquiry has an completely correct basis. It's correct that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the season, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monaco driver completed his tire change, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

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

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

Hamilton would not say even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars run for the initial time in pre-season testing next year, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain indication of relative performance emerges.

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