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The British racing team along with F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this championship battle involving Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to the pit wall as the championship finale kicks off at the COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and tense post-race analyses dealt with, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a reset. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous race weekend. During an intense championship duel with the Australian, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going on the inside through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go for a gap that exists then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he gave to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion in Japan in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent of letting Prost beat him through the first corner while Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague as he went through. This incident was a result of him clipping the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; 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. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and fairness being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now covers misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Of most import to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin 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 the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will probably be welcomed as a track duel rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for themselves with successful results. They secured their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against team management

Yet having drivers competing for the title appealing to the team to decide matters appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided on track. Chance and fate will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we discussed various aspects,” he stated after Singapore. “However finally it's educational with the whole team.”

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