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

McLaren are fully conscious of the difficulty they face with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to modify their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and run the team on a basis of fairness and equanimity.

"This is the approach we plan competing. This is the philosophy in which we approach racing, and we aim to stay equitable, and we want to maintain equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered seventeen points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team imploded.

And he missed out on the championship as race engineer to Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their strategy at the last Grand Prix of the championship and enabled Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from their grasp.

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

"We lean on the past 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 [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this season have had to confront the dilemma of for how long to concentrate on their 2025 season car while also making sure they are as prepared as they can be for the major regulation change scheduled for the 2026 season.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the start of a new regulation period, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were finding reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an easy decision to switch focus to the following season.

The Red Bull team have caught up since introducing their new floor and nose section at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car stays competitive - team boss Stella stated he thought Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up following Charles Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and continue delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a large opportunity, and the outcome of this championship and the driver's title is in our control. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely correct basis. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

He is currently much closer than he was. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Charles Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

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

Each of Hamilton and Carlos 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 Ferrari - and he is expecting 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 switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not all struggle in this way.

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

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Competitive Order?

Before the cars are driven for the initial time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will know how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time a certain sense of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the true and accurate situation will emerge.