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McLaren along with F1 could do with anything decisive in the title fight involving Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without resorting to team orders with the title run-in kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to team tensions

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly more than aware 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, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence 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 an inside move through an opening then you should not be in F1,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to overtake which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” justification he provided to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion in Japan in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

While the spirit is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself was a result of him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; the implication being the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris should be instructed to return the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to intervene on his behalf.

Squad management and impartiality 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. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there is the question regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and when their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I guess aggression will increase further. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, getting interesting will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and with Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters appears unsightly. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, than the impression that each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to ascertain whether intervention is needed and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.