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McLaren along with F1 could do with anything decisive during this title fight involving Norris & Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to the pit wall as the championship finale begins at the COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to internal strain

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous race weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

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

The remark appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting an available gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” justification he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost to defeat him at turn one while Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he had with his team colleague during the pass. This incident was a result of him touching the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that their collision was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, each would quickly ask to the team to step in in their favor.

Squad management and impartiality being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes boss Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Especially since in Formula One the alternative perception from all this isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition should be decided through racing. Chance and fate will play their part, but better to let them just battle freely 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 with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

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

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser to just close the books and withdraw from the fray.