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The British racing team along with Formula One could do with anything decisive in the championship battle involving Lando Norris & Piastri getting resolved on the track and without reference to team orders with the title run-in begins at the COTA starting Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath prompts team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a reset. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident 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 on the inside through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting an available gap that exists then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself stemmed from him touching the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, 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 should be instructed to give back the position he gained. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to step in in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Of most import to the title race, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and when their perspectives might split 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 minor points count,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will probably be welcomed in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from all this is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who truly aims to act correctly.

Racing purity against team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let 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 afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, after the team made for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we discussed a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “However finally it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser to just stop analyzing and step back from the fray.