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

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath prompts internal strain

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs concluded, McLaren is aiming for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. During an intense title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you don't belong in Formula One,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague as he went through. This incident was a result of him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated 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 let their drivers race against each other and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. 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 minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I guess the elbows are going to come out further. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For the audience, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from these events is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and with Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus team management

However, with racers competing for the title appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition should be decided on track. Luck and destiny will play their part, but better to let them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision their drivers swap places at Monza 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 of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated after Singapore. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.