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The British racing team along with Formula One could do with any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Norris & Piastri being decided through on-track action and without resorting to team orders with the championship finale begins this weekend at Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a reset. Norris was likely fully conscious of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last 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 differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to the cars colliding.

The remark seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go for a gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” justification he gave to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took 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 of letting Prost to defeat him at turn one while Norris did try to make his pass cleanly 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. That itself was a result of him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, each would quickly ask the squad to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race one another and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Of most import for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. Which is when the amicable relationship among them may – finally – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes boss Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

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

Racing purity against squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters is unedifying. Their contest should be decided through racing. 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 team to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it is in danger of potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Previously, after the team made for position swaps at Monza because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri said he believed they had, but noted it's a developing process.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we discussed a number of things,” he stated after Singapore. “However finally it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little wriggle room left to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the fray.