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

McLaren are fully conscious of the obstacle they face with Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this year, but they don't believe to alter their approach to running the team.

They will continue to provide their two drivers the optimal opportunity they can and operate the team on a basis of equity and balance.

"This is the way we intend racing. This is the way in which we tackle racing, and we want to stay fair, and we intend to apply equality to our drivers."

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

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

Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Texas: "We view the remaining five Grands Prix as opportunities to increase the gap on Verstappen. And when it involves having to make a decision as to a driver, this will exclusively be determined by the numbers."

"We lean on the past experience. I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you reach the last race and it's in fact the [driver in] third [place] that wins the title. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Cease Upgrades on The Current Car?

All teams this year have had to confront the conundrum of how long to concentrate on their 2025 car while also ensuring they are as ready as they can be for the major regulation change coming for 2026.

In Formula 1, it's usually the situation that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a long time to catch up. And if they succeed, that advantage can last for a while - consider the Red Bull team in 2022 and 2023, the last time the regulations were modified.

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

They continued to improve it for a while, but were experiencing reduced benefits. So when evaluating the bang for buck they were achieving on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an easy decision to switch focus to next year.

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

"We just have to keep optimising the car performance and continue executing good weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku City Circuit, we failed to optimize the performance and we didn't execute a flawless performance."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the result of this championship and the driver's title is in our hands. It's not in another team's control."

Driver Transfers: How Difficult Is It to Change Constructors?

First of all, it's uncertain the question has an entirely accurate basis. It's correct that each of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had somewhat sticky opening phases of the championship, in different ways, and that they are now faring significantly improved.

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

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

He is now significantly nearer than he previously. He is regularly qualifying within a small fraction of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's four-two to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Texas, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a second behind Leclerc when the Monegasque completed his pit stop, and lost thirteen seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Charles Leclerc was on the best race strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even currently, it's difficult to claim that on average Charles Leclerc has hasn't been the superior Ferrari driver this season.

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

Lewis Hamilton would not say even currently that he was fully adapted to Ferrari - and he is expecting the new rules next year will benefit his driving style; he has never really enjoyed these ground-effect vehicles.

There is a great deal for a racing driver to understand and adapt to when they switch teams, as Hamilton has explained repeatedly this season. But not every driver struggle in this way.

Fernando Alonso, for example, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 when he transferred to Aston Martin. And would Verstappen face challenges 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 run for the first time in winter testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking in the upcoming season.

The initial session, 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 two tests in Bahrain on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the initial occasion a certain sense of comparative speed emerges.

But, as always, it's not until the season opener that the complete and precise picture will emerge.