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The British racing team along with Formula One could do with anything decisive during this title fight between Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action rather than without resorting to team orders as the championship finale begins at the COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses concluded, McLaren is aiming for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. During an intense title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“If you fault me for just going on the inside through an opening then you should not be in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

The remark seemed to echo Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” defence he gave to the racing knight after he ploughed into Alain Prost at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to return the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there is the question regarding opinions.

Most crucially to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I suppose aggression will increase a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will probably be welcomed in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus team management

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply close the books and step back from the fray.