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McLaren and Formula One could do with anything decisive in the championship battle between Lando Norris & Piastri getting resolved on the track and without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, McLaren is aiming for a reset. Norris was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context of his riposte toward his upset colleague at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, his reference to a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's iconic battles.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into Alain Prost in Japan back in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he never intended of letting Prost beat him through the first corner while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his team colleague during the pass. This incident was a result of him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; 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 of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to step in on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of 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 the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I suppose the elbows are going to come out further. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because in Formula One the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity against squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters is unedifying. Their contest should be decided on track. Chance and fate will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the squad to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase and each time it happens it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires 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 acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri said that they did, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated post-race. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.