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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That to Win, It's Not Always Possible to Play Fair?

The McLaren team are well aware of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to alter their approach to running the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the approach we plan racing. This is the way in which we tackle competition, and we want to stay equitable, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to secure the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella commented after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a team makes mistakes at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that benefit can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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

They continued to improve it for a period, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a perfect race."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the result of this championship and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the inquiry has an entirely correct basis. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had slightly difficult first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear very even. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc frequently at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently significantly nearer than he previously. He is consistently setting times within a few hundredths of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the regulation changes next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a lot for a racing driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I believe most in F1 would expect not.

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

Before the F1 cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, no-one will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the media.

So the two tests in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain indication of comparative speed emerges.

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