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The British racing team and Formula One would benefit from anything decisive during this championship battle between Norris and Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without resorting to team orders with the title run-in begins at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath prompts internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and tense post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate at the last grand prix weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in Formula One,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting an available gap which is there then you cease to be a true racer” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended of letting Prost beat him through the first corner while Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself was a result of him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris ought to be told to give back the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask the squad to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and impartiality under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship among them may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out further. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the alternative perception from these events is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against team management

Yet having drivers competing for the title looking to the pitwall to decide matters appears unsightly. Their competition should be decided through racing. Chance and fate will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if intervention is needed and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase and each time it happens it risks possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made for position swaps at Monza because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“We've had several difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

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