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The British racing team and Formula One would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this title fight involving Lando Norris and Piastri being decided through on-track action rather than without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and tense debriefs dealt with, McLaren is aiming 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 race weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going on the inside through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go for a gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost in Japan back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was forbidden under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to give back the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race one another and strive to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out further. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated as an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making the correct decisions for themselves with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against squad control

Yet having drivers competing for the title looking to the pitwall to decide matters appears unsightly. Their contest ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow 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 intervention is needed and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris won, the shadow of concern of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that fairness attempts had not been balanced. When asked if he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted it's a developing process.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “But ultimately it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply close the books and step back from the conflict.