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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That to Win, You Can't Always Be Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the difficulty they encounter with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to change their approach to running the team.

They will persist to provide both drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and equanimity.

"This represents the approach we plan competing. This remains the method in which we tackle competition, and we want to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team boss Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He won the title as engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari racer made up 17 points under the old scoring system in two races to secure the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

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

Stella said following the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a team driver, this will only be determined by mathematics."

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

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on This Year's Car?

Every team this season have had to confront 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 significant rules overhaul scheduled for 2026.

In F1, it's typically 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 get it right, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the last time the rules were modified.

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

They did continue to develop it for a period, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

The Red Bull team have closed the gap since bringing their updated floor and nose section at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren remains competitive - team principal Andrea Stella said he believed Norris had the speed to challenge for the victory in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to keep optimising the performance and keep delivering good race weekends. And from this perspective, if you consider a Grand Prix like Baku, we failed to optimize the car's potential and we didn't deliver a perfect performance."

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

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Switch Teams?

Initially, I'm not sure the question has an completely accurate basis. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the season, in varying manners, and that they are now performing much better.

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

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

He is currently much closer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of Leclerc, but in qualifying battles it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the mid-season break.

This previous weekend in Austin, on one of Hamilton's favourite tracks, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monegasque completed his tire change, and dropped thirteen seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal race strategy. Nevertheless, over the championship, and even now, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has not been the better Ferrari racer this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not claim even now that he was fully adapted to the Ferrari car - and he is hoping 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 change constructors, as Lewis Hamilton has explained repeatedly this year. But not all faces difficulties in this way.

Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Max Verstappen struggle if he switched teams? I believe the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

When Will We Know Next Year's Team Performance?

Before the cars run for the initial time in winter testing next season, nobody will know how the teams are performing next year.

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is behind closed doors because the teams preferred to get their heads around their first running of the new engines without the prying eyes of the press.

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

But, as ever, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise situation will become clear.