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The British racing team along with F1 could do with anything decisive during this title fight involving Lando Norris and Piastri getting resolved on the track rather than without reference to the pit wall as the championship finale kicks off this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts team tensions

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments was lost on no one yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you don't belong in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to overtake which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

The remark seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap which is there then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion in Japan back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent to allow Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague during the pass. This incident was a result of him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules about what defines just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come to a situation where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will likely be appreciated as a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Racing purity against team management

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition should be decided through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the squad to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

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

“There’s been some difficult situations and we discussed a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “However finally it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

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