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McLaren and F1 could do with anything decisive during this title fight between Norris & Piastri being decided on the track and without resorting to the pit wall with the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. Norris was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, his reference to a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting on the inside through an opening then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he provided to the racing knight following his collision with Alain Prost in Japan 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 to allow Prost to defeat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself stemmed from him clipping the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated 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. The team refused, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. Which is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because in Formula One the alternative perception from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for their interests with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity versus team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall 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, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, after the team made 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 shadow of concern of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship endlessly debated over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.