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

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

They will persist to provide both drivers the best chance they can and run the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

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

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He claimed the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the title, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella stated following the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a call as to a team driver, this will exclusively be led by mathematics."

"We rely on the past experience. I can remember at least 2007, the 2010 season, in which you go to the final Grand Prix and it's in fact the third-placed driver that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by the calculations."

Why Did McLaren Stop Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also making sure they are as ready as they can be for the significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's usually the case that if a team gets it wrong 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 last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing diminishing returns. 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 next year.

The Red Bull team have caught up since bringing their updated underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the win in Austin had he not finished following Leclerc.

"We just have to continue optimising the car performance and continue executing strong weekends. And from this point of view, if you think of a race like Baku, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a flawless race."

"So definitely we have a significant opportunity, 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 Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate premise. 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 now faring much better.

Carlos Sainz and Albon currently look very even. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is yet the "match" of Leclerc - or not consistently, anyway.

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

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

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a second behind his teammate when the Monegasque made his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Regardless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on average Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this year.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even currently that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will suit him; he has never particularly liked these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Hamilton has described repeatedly this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen face challenges if he switched teams? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine The Coming Season's Competitive Order?

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

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as ever, it's not until the season opener that the true and accurate picture will become clear.