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Must McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, It's Not Always Possible to Be Fair?

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

They will persist to give both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the way we intend competing. This remains the method in which we tackle racing, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to apply equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

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

Andrea Stella stated after the race in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We lean 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 third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Development on The Current Car?

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

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

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

They did continue to improve it for a period, but were experiencing 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 bringing their new underfloor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella stated he believed Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up following Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

"So definitely we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not placed in another team's control."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are currently faring much better.

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

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

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

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

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 great deal for a racing driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all struggle in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would expect not.

When Will We Know The Coming Season's Team Performance?

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

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their initial track time of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

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