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McLaren and F1 could do with anything decisive in the championship battle involving Lando Norris and Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to team orders with the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to internal strain

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and tense debriefs concluded, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. During an intense championship duel against Piastri, his reference to a famous Senna well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined Senna's great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap which is there then you cease to be a racing driver” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into the French champion in Japan in 1990, securing him the title.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him at turn one while Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself was a result of him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to return the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules about what defines just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists as fair and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when the amicable relationship among them may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I suppose aggression will increase further. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated as a track duel instead of a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking appropriate choices 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 the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus team management

Yet having drivers competing for the title appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their contest should be decided on track. Luck and destiny will play their part, but better to let them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the shadow of concern of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply close the books and step back from the conflict.