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Do McLaren Face the Truth of F1 - That if You Want Win, You Can't Always Play Fair?

McLaren are well aware of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the drivers' championship this season, but they see no reason to change their strategy to managing the team.

They will continue to provide both drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of equity and balance.

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

Team principal Stella is a seasoned expert of many title battles. He won the title as race engineer to Raikkonen in 2007 when the Ferrari driver recovered 17 points under the previous points system in two races to win the championship, while the McLaren team collapsed.

And he lost the championship 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 Red Bull to snatch the championship from under their noses.

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Austin: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to extend the lead on Verstappen. And when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by mathematics."

"We lean on the experience. I can recall at least the 2007 season, the 2010 season, in which you reach the final Grand Prix and it's actually the [driver in] third [place] that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is determined by mathematics."

Why Did McLaren Cease Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the situation that if a constructor gets it wrong at the beginning of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the regulations changed.

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 finding diminishing returns. So when looking at the bang for buck they were getting on their 2025 season car versus 2026, it became an straightforward decision to redirect attention to next year.

Red Bull 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 said he thought Lando Norris had the pace to compete for the victory in Texas had he not ended up behind Leclerc.

"We must continue maximising the performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of 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 large chance, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our hands. It's not placed in someone else's hands."

Driver Transfers: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's true that both Lewis Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky opening phases of the championship, in varying manners, and that they are currently faring much better.

Sainz and Alex Albon do now appear quite balanced. However, it's less certain that, in Hamilton's case, he is currently the "equal" of Leclerc - or not regularly, anyway.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to outperform Leclerc very often at all this season, either in qualifying sessions or Grand Prix.

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

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Hamilton's preferred circuits, he was a full second slower than his teammate when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and dropped 13 seconds over the remaining portion of the Grand Prix.

In hindsight, Charles Leclerc was on the optimal strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the better Ferrari driver this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even now that he was completely adjusted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; 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 Hamilton has explained many times this year. But not all faces difficulties in this manner.

Alonso, for example, was on it from the start of the 2023 when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in Formula 1 would anticipate he wouldn't.

How Soon Can We Determine Next Year's Team Performance?

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

The initial session, in Barcelona on January 26-30, is private because the constructors wanted to understand their first running of the power unit changes without the prying eyes of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain indication of relative performance becomes apparent.

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