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

McLaren are fully conscious of the challenge they encounter with Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the drivers' championship this season, but they don't believe to alter their method to running the team.

They will persist to give their two drivers the best chance they can and operate the team on a foundation of fairness and balance.

"This represents the approach we plan competing. This is the method in which we approach racing, and we aim to remain fair, and we intend to apply equality to both drivers."

Team principal Andrea Stella is a veteran of numerous title battles. He claimed the championship as engineer to 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 McLaren collapsed.

And he missed out on the title as race engineer to Alonso in the 2010 season, when Ferrari messed up their strategy at the final race of the championship and allowed Vettel and the Red Bull team to sneak the title from their grasp.

Stella stated following the race in Austin: "We look at the remaining five Grands Prix as chances to increase the gap on Max. And when it comes to having to make a decision as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics."

"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 actually the third-placed driver that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics."

What Prompted McLaren to Stop Development on The Current Car?

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

In F1, it's typically the case that if a constructor makes mistakes at the start of a new rules cycle, it can take a considerable period to recover. And if they succeed, that benefit can continue for some time - look at Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, the most recent occasion the rules changed.

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

They continued to develop it for a while, but were experiencing diminishing returns. So when evaluating the value for money they were getting on their 2025 car versus the 2026 car, it became an straightforward choice to switch focus to next year.

Red Bull have closed the gap since introducing their new floor and front wing at the Monza Grand Prix, but the McLaren car remains competitive - team boss Andrea Stella said he believed Lando Norris had the speed to challenge for the win in Austin had he not ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

"We just have to continue maximising the car performance and keep delivering strong weekends. And from this perspective, if you think of a race like Baku, we didn't maximise the performance and we didn't deliver a flawless race."

"Therefore we have a large chance, and the outcome of this season and the drivers' championship is in our control. It's not in someone else's hands."

Team Changes: How Challenging Is It to Switch Teams?

First of all, I'm not sure the question has an entirely accurate premise. It's correct that both Hamilton and Sainz had slightly sticky first halves of the season, in different ways, and that they are currently performing significantly improved.

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

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

He is currently significantly nearer than he was. He is consistently qualifying within a few hundredths of a second of his teammate, but in qualifying it's 4-2 to Leclerc since the summer break.

This last weekend in Austin, on one of Lewis Hamilton's favourite circuits, he was a full second behind his teammate when the Monaco driver made his tire change, and dropped 13 seconds over the rest of the race.

Looking back, Leclerc was on the best strategy. Nevertheless, over the season, and even now, it's difficult to argue that on balance Charles Leclerc has not been the superior Ferrari racer this year.

Each of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have talked about how difficult it is to change constructors, and we have to take them at their word.

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

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

Fernando Alonso, for instance, was performing well from the beginning of the 2023 season when he moved to the Aston Martin team. And would Verstappen face challenges if he changed constructors? I suspect the majority in F1 would expect not.

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

Until the F1 cars run for the first time in pre-season testing next season, nobody will understand how the constructors are looking next year.

The first test, in Catalunya on 26-30 January, is behind closed doors because the constructors preferred to get their heads around their initial track time of the power unit changes without the scrutiny of the media.

So the pair of sessions in Sakhir on 11-13 and February 18-20 will be the first time some kind of indication of comparative speed becomes apparent.

But, as always, it's only at the season opener that the complete and precise picture will emerge.