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McLaren along with F1 would benefit from anything decisive during this championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action rather than without reference to team orders with the championship finale kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to internal strain

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous 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 that provoked his comment 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 of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he gave to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion in Japan back in 1990, securing him the title.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him through the first corner while Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. This incident was a result of him clipping the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to give back the position he gained. The team refused, but it was indicative that in any cases of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of an on-track confrontation instead of 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 their interests with successful results. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided 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 each contentious incident will be pored over by the squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made for position swaps at Monza because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also looms.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we discussed a number of things,” he said post-race. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.