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McLaren along with Formula One would benefit from anything decisive in the 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 kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was likely more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes was lost on no one yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“If you fault me for simply attempting an inside move through an opening then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit is similar, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him clipping the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris should be instructed to give back the position he gained. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now includes bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will probably be welcomed as a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because in Formula One the alternative perception from all this isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for their interests with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity versus team management

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall to decide matters is unedifying. Their contest should be decided through racing. Chance and fate will play their part, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, 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 scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

No one wants to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

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