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McLaren and F1 could do with anything decisive in the title fight involving Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided through on-track action rather than without reference to team orders as the championship finale kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout prompts internal strain

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked 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.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting on the inside through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go for a gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with Alain Prost in Japan in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent to allow Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident was a result of him touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and impartiality under scrutiny

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete one another and strive to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue 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. That is when the amicable relationship between the two could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I guess the elbows are going to come out further. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the other impression from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they possess a moral and principled leader who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Chance and fate will have roles, but better to let them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it risks 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 believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

No one wants to see a title endlessly debated because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had acted correctly toward both racers, 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 stated post-race. “However finally it's educational with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser to just close the books and step back from the conflict.