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McLaren and F1 would benefit from anything decisive in the championship battle involving Norris & Oscar Piastri being decided on the track and without reference to team orders with the title run-in kicks off this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to internal strain

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was likely more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last grand prix weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined Senna's great rivalries.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you don't belong in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists then you cease to be a racing driver” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion in Japan back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent to allow Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident was a result of him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that their collision was forbidden by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to give back the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to step in in their favor.

Squad management and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import to the title race, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto 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.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel instead of a data-driven decision of circumstances. Not least because in Formula One the alternative perception from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity versus team management

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their contest ought to be determined on track. Chance and fate will play their part, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be pored over by the squad to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps at Monza because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

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 responded that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we discussed a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “But ultimately it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the fray.