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The British racing team and Formula One could do with anything decisive during this title fight between Lando Norris and Piastri being decided through on-track action and without resorting to team orders as the title run-in begins at the COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs concluded, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes was lost on no one yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go for a gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” defence he provided to the racing knight following his collision with Alain Prost 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 of letting Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself was a result of him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to intervene on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete one another and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now includes misfortune, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Of most import to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists as fair and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes boss 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 starts to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For spectators, during this dual battle, getting interesting will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation instead of a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Especially since in Formula One the alternative perception from these events is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for themselves with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition 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, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be pored over by the squad to ascertain whether intervention is needed and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed because it may be considered that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, 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. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser now to simply stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.