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

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to internal strain

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, his reference to a famous Senna well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence that provoked his comment differed completely from incidents characterizing Senna's great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

While the spirit is similar, the wording is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; 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. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport 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 team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out further. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated as an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for themselves with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and with Stella as team principal they possess a moral and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against team management

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their contest should be decided through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Already, after the team made for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

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 believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations 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. McLaren have little room for error for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better now to simply close the books and step back from the conflict.