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McLaren and F1 would benefit from anything decisive in the championship battle between Norris & Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action rather than without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost beat him at turn one whereas 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 McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him clipping the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that their collision was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists as fair and when their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I guess the elbows are going to come out 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 likely be appreciated in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the alternative perception from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making the correct decisions for their interests with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity versus team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition should be decided on track. Chance and fate will have roles, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places at Monza because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

No one wants to witness a championship endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but noted it's a developing process.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply close the books and step back from the fray.