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

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they face with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to change their approach to running the team.

They will continue to give both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the approach we intend racing. This is the method in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to maintain equality to both drivers."

Team principal Stella is a veteran of many title battles. He won the title as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the season and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to snatch the championship from their grasp.

Andrea Stella said following the race in Texas: "We view the next five races as chances to extend the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a team driver, this will only be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually the third-placed driver that claims the title. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is determined by the calculations."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to face the conundrum of how long to focus on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the significant rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the situation that if a team makes mistakes at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can last for a while - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

The McLaren team began this year with the fastest car, after putting a lot of innovation into their 2025 season design.

They continued to improve it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when looking at the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice 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 car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he believed Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and keep executing strong race weekends. And from this point of view, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the question has an completely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

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

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying sessions or race.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and lost 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the race.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's hard to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this year.

Each of Lewis Hamilton and Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules 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 get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Team Performance?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to understand their initial track time of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

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