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The British racing team and F1 could do with any conclusive outcome in the championship battle between Lando Norris and Piastri being decided on the track rather than without resorting to team orders as the title run-in kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense debriefs dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a reset. Norris was likely more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move through an opening then you should not be in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “If you no longer go for a gap which is there then you cease to be a true racer” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent to allow Prost beat him at turn one while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he made against his team colleague as he went through. This incident stemmed from him touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; the implication being the two teammates clashing was forbidden by team protocols for racing and Norris ought to be told to give back the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to step in in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete one another and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now includes bad luck, tactical calls and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue 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 on fairness and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. Which is when the amicable relationship among them could eventually – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

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

Audience expectations and title consequences

For the audience, during this dual battle, increased excitement will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the alternative perception from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making the correct decisions for their interests with successful results. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success diminished 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 against squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall to decide matters appears unsightly. Their competition ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to ascertain whether they need to intervene and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated after Singapore. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.