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The British racing team and F1 could do with anything decisive in the championship battle involving Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved on the track rather than without resorting to the pit wall with the championship finale begins this weekend at Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath prompts internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. During an intense championship duel against Piastri, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments was lost on no one yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's great rivalries.

“If you fault me for just going on the inside through an opening then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” defence he gave to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague as he went through. This incident stemmed from him touching the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris ought to be told to give back the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal 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 one another and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now covers misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I suppose aggression will increase a bit more. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as a track duel instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves with successful results. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall to decide matters is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the squad to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up later in private.

The examination will intensify and each time it happens it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

No one wants to witness a championship endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“We've had several difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said after Singapore. “But ultimately it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser to just close the books and step back from the fray.