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McLaren and Formula One could do with any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Lando Norris and Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to the pit wall as the championship finale begins at the COTA on Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath prompts internal strain

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. During an intense title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked a famous Senna well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined 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,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting an available gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” defence he provided to the racing knight after he ploughed into Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost beat him at turn one while Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his team colleague during the pass. This incident stemmed from him touching the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that their collision was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask to the team to step in in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This is part and parcel 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 in setting precedents about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there is the question regarding opinions.

Of most import to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists as fair and at what point their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I suppose aggression will increase a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of an on-track confrontation instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the other impression 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 secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement overshadowed by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and with Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and principled leader who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Racing purity versus squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided through racing. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the team to ascertain whether they need to intervene and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Already, after the team made for position swaps in Italy because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser now to simply close the books and step back from the conflict.