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

The McLaren team are fully conscious of the challenge they confront with Verstappen and Red Bull in the championship battle this season, but they don't believe to modify their method to running the team.

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

"This represents the way we intend racing. This is the way in which we approach competition, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

Team boss Stella is a seasoned expert of many championship fights. He won the championship as race engineer to Raikkonen in the 2007 season when the Ferrari driver made up seventeen points under the old scoring system in two Grands Prix to win the championship, while McLaren collapsed.

And he lost the title as race engineer to Fernando Alonso in 2010, when the Ferrari team made errors in their race strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from under their noses.

Andrea Stella commented after the race in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to extend the lead on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

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

Why Did McLaren Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

Every team this year have had to face the dilemma of how long to focus on their 2025 season car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major rules overhaul coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the case that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they get it right, that advantage can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules changed.

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

They did continue to improve it for a while, but were finding diminishing returns. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car compared to 2026, it became an straightforward choice to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since introducing their new underfloor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team boss Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to compete for the victory in Texas had he not finished following Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep maximising the car performance and keep delivering strong race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a race like Baku City Circuit, we didn't maximise the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, it's uncertain the inquiry has an completely correct premise. It's true that each of Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky first halves of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring significantly improved.

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

Hamilton has failed to outperform Charles Leclerc frequently at all this year, either in qualifying or race.

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

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second slower than Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and lost 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 currently, it's hard to claim that on average Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari driver this season.

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

Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to the Ferrari car - and he is expecting the regulation changes next season will suit him; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a lot for a driver to get their head around when they switch teams, as Lewis Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not every driver faces difficulties in this manner.

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

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

Before the cars run for the first time in winter testing next season, no-one will know how the teams are looking next year.

The initial session, in Catalunya on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the press.

So the two tests in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 February will be the first time a certain sense of relative performance emerges.

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