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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this year, but they see no reason to modify their approach 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 equity and balance.

"This represents the manner we intend competing. This is the way in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by the numbers."

"We rely on the experience. I can recall at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the last race 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 Development on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to the following season.

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

"We just have to continue optimising the car performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of 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 chance, and the result of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing much better.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying or race.

He is now much closer than he was. He is regularly setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari racer this season.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how challenging it is to change constructors, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was on it from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I suspect most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

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

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing in the upcoming season.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise situation will emerge.