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Do McLaren Accept Reality of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to modify their method to running the team.

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

"This is the approach we intend competing. This remains the method in which we tackle competition, and we aim to stay fair, and we intend to maintain equal treatment to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of many championship fights. He claimed 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 Grands Prix to secure the title, while McLaren imploded.

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when the Ferrari team messed up their race strategy at the final race of the season and enabled Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from their grasp.

Stella stated after the Grand Prix in Austin: "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 led by the numbers."

"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 in fact the third-placed driver that claims the championship. So we're not going to make decisions unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on This Year's Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can continue for some time - consider Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

McLaren started this season with the fastest car, after putting a lot of technical development into their 2025 design.

They did continue to develop it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when looking at the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car compared to the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella stated he thought Lando Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must continue optimising the car performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

"Therefore we have a significant opportunity, and the outcome of this season and the driver's title is in our control. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Change Constructors?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely accurate premise. It's true that both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat difficult opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

Carlos Sainz and Albon do now look quite balanced. However, it's not so clear that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is yet the "equal" of Leclerc - or not consistently, 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 consistently setting times within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his pit stop, and dropped thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

In hindsight, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Regardless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

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

There is a great deal for a driver to get their head around when they change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

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

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 know how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The first test, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the teams preferred to get their heads around their initial track time 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 initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's not until the first race that the true and accurate picture will emerge.