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The British racing team along with Formula One could do with anything decisive in the title fight involving Lando Norris and Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without resorting to team orders with the championship finale begins at the COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a fresh start. Norris was likely fully conscious of the historical context 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 well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence that provoked his comment differed completely to those that defined the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move through an opening then you should not be in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go for a gap which is there then you cease to be a true racer” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost beat him at turn one while Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague as he went through. That itself was a result of him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

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

Squad management and fairness under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship between the two could eventually – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will likely be appreciated in the form of an on-track confrontation instead of a data-driven decision of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the alternative perception from these events is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they possess a moral and principled leader who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity against team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters is unedifying. Their contest should be decided on track. Chance and fate will play their part, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, 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 with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern of favouritism also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed over perceived that fairness attempts were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some challenging moments 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. The team has minimal wriggle room left to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.