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McLaren along with F1 could do with anything decisive in the title fight between Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout prompts internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense debriefs dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, his reference to a famous Senna well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for just going on the inside through an opening then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “If you no longer go for a gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion in Japan back in 1990, securing him the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he had no intent to allow Prost beat him through the first corner while Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself stemmed from him touching the car of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden by team protocols of engagement and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to step in in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness being examined

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, 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 is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport between the two 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 post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I guess aggression will increase 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 likely be appreciated in the form of an on-track confrontation instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because in Formula One the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and principled leader who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity against team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the squad to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it is in danger of potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision 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 at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to see a title endlessly debated because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated after Singapore. “But ultimately it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser to just close the books and withdraw from the conflict.