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

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

They will persist to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

"This is the approach we intend competing. This remains the way in which we approach competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while McLaren imploded.

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

Andrea Stella said following the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead 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 past experience. I can remember at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

All teams this season have had to face the dilemma of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change coming for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to 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 new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and continue executing strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely correct basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

Lewis 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 few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's preferred tracks, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on balance Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Both 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 currently that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this year. But not every driver struggle in this manner.

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

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

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

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion 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 become clear.