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McLaren along with Formula One would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this championship battle involving Norris and Piastri being decided through on-track action and without resorting to the pit wall with the title run-in kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte toward his upset colleague during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel with the Australian, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's iconic battles.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to pass which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “Should you stop attempting an available gap which is there then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion in Japan in 1990, securing him the title.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent to allow Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that their collision was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to give back the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, each would quickly ask the squad to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I suppose aggression will increase a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will likely be appreciated as a track duel rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because in Formula One the alternative perception from these events is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement overshadowed by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and principled leader who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity against squad control

Yet having drivers competing for the title 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 simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision their drivers swap places at Monza because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

No one wants to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we discussed a number of things,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately 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 now to simply stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.