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McLaren along with Formula One could do with anything decisive during this championship battle involving Lando Norris and Piastri getting resolved on the track and without resorting to team orders as the title run-in kicks off this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to team tensions

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense debriefs dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a fresh start. The British driver was likely more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

The remark seemed to echo Senna’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 following his collision with Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he had no intent to allow Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his team colleague as he went through. This incident stemmed from him touching the car of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden by team protocols for racing and Norris ought to be told to give back the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, tactical calls and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there is the question regarding opinions.

Of most import to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. 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,” said Mercedes boss Toto 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 starts to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated as an on-track confrontation instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from these events is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Racing purity against team management

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition should be decided on track. Chance and fate will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, than the impression that each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed over perceived that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated after Singapore. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser to just close the books and withdraw from the fray.