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

McLaren are well aware of the challenge they confront with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the championship battle this season, but they see no reason to modify their strategy to running the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and equanimity.

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

Team boss Andrea Stella is a seasoned expert of numerous championship fights. He claimed the championship as race engineer to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

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

Andrea Stella stated after the race in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean 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 [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 Stop Upgrades on This Year's Car?

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

In F1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations changed.

McLaren started this year with the fastest car, after investing 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 value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward decision to switch focus to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their updated floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren stays competitive - team principal Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the pace to challenge for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Charles 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 City Circuit, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't execute a perfect race."

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

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the inquiry has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now performing significantly improved.

Sainz and Albon currently appear very even. However, it's less certain that, in Lewis Hamilton's case, he is currently the "match" of Charles Leclerc - or not consistently, at least.

Lewis Hamilton has not beaten Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or Grand Prix.

He is now significantly nearer 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 Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second behind Leclerc when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and lost 13 seconds over the rest of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's hard to argue that on balance Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have discussed how difficult it is to switch teams, and we have to accept their statements.

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is hoping the new rules next season will suit him; he has never particularly liked these venturi cars.

There is a great deal for a driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has described many times this season. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen struggle if he changed constructors? I believe most 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 winter testing next year, no-one will know how the constructors are performing next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the initial occasion a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

But, as ever, it's not until the first race that the complete and precise situation will emerge.