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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they see no reason to change their strategy to managing the team.

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

"This is the way we plan competing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we want to remain fair, and we want to maintain equal treatment to our drivers."

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the title as engineer to Kimi 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 lost the title as engineer to Fernando Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari made errors in their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Vettel and Red Bull to snatch the title from their grasp.

Stella stated after the race in Austin: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the conundrum of for how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for the 2026 season.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - 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 develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to redirect attention to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the performance and continue delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's true that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths 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 Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even currently, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

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

Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping the new rules next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 season when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect most in Formula 1 would expect not.

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

Before the F1 cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams wanted to get their heads around 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 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance becomes apparent.

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