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The British racing team and Formula One would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this title fight between Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without resorting to the pit wall as the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts team tensions

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping 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 grand prix weekend. During an intense title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments was lost on no one yet the occurrence that provoked his comment differed completely from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting on the inside through an opening then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to their vehicles making contact.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself was a result of him clipping the car driven by Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden by team protocols for racing and Norris ought to be told to return the position he gained. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there is the question regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I suppose the elbows are going to come out further. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Especially since in Formula One the alternative perception from all this is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they possess a moral and principled leader who truly aims to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters is unedifying. Their competition should be decided on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be pored over by the squad to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we discussed various aspects,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.