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McLaren along with F1 could do with any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Lando Norris & Piastri being decided through on-track action rather than without reference to the pit wall as the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to team tensions

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a reset. Norris was almost certainly more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to overtake 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” justification he gave to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident was a result of him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, each would quickly ask to the team to step in on his behalf.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there is the question regarding opinions.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists as fair and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. Which is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I guess aggression will increase a bit more. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will probably be welcomed as a track duel rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, 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 their drivers' clash) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity against squad control

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall to decide matters is unedifying. Their competition should be decided through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved later in private.

The examination will increase and each time it happens it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

No one wants to see a title endlessly debated because it may be considered that fairness attempts had not been balanced. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said 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 stated post-race. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.