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The British racing team along with Formula One would benefit from anything decisive in the title fight involving Norris and Piastri being decided through on-track action and without reference to team orders as the championship finale begins this weekend at Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout prompts internal strain

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and tense debriefs dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel with the Australian, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments 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 simply attempting an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he had no intent of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when 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 the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes boss Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I suppose aggression will increase a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for themselves with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and with Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall to decide matters is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Chance and fate will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to ascertain whether intervention is needed and then cleared up later in private.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, after the team made for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but noted it's a developing process.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “However finally it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.