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McLaren and Formula One could do with any conclusive outcome during this championship battle between Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri being decided through on-track action and without resorting to team orders with the title run-in kicks off this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to internal strain

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last grand prix weekend. During an intense title fight with the Australian, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes was lost on no one yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

The remark appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go for a gap that exists then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he gave to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. This incident was a result of him touching the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. The team refused, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come to a situation where minor points count,” commented Mercedes boss Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I guess the elbows are going to come out further. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for themselves with successful results. They secured their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against team management

However, with racers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, but better to let them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, 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 intensify and each time it happens it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship 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 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 stated after Singapore. “However finally 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 withdraw from the fray.