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McLaren and Formula One could do with anything decisive during this championship battle between Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri being decided through on-track action rather than without resorting to the pit wall as the title run-in begins at the COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses concluded, McLaren is aiming for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. During an intense championship duel with the Australian, his reference to a famous Senna most famous sentiments was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's iconic battles.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to overtake that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there then you cease to be a true racer” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent to allow Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he made against his team colleague during the pass. This incident was a result of him clipping the car driven by Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris ought to be told to return the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to step in in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, 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, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach a point where minor points count,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out further. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated as an on-track confrontation rather than 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 are making the correct decisions for themselves with successful results. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus squad control

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the squad to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

No one wants to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we discussed various aspects,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the fray.