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McLaren and F1 would benefit from anything decisive in the championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided through on-track action and without resorting to team orders with the championship finale begins at the COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a reset. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“If you fault me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

The remark seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists you are no longer a racing driver” defence he gave to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him through the first corner while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he had with his team colleague as he went through. This incident stemmed from him touching the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated 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. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to step in on his behalf.

Team dynamics 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 be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules about what defines just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now includes bad luck, tactical calls and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question regarding opinions.

Of most import to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from all this is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves with successful results. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against team management

Yet having drivers competing for the title looking to the pitwall to decide matters appears unsightly. Their competition ought to be determined through racing. Chance and fate will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, than the impression that each contentious incident will be pored over by the squad to determine if intervention is needed and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

No one wants to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted it's a developing process.

“We've had several difficult situations and we discussed various aspects,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the fray.