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The British racing team and F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this title fight involving Norris and Piastri being decided on the track and without resorting to the pit wall with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and tense post-race analyses dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly more than aware about the historical parallels of his riposte toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, his reference to a famous Senna well-known quotes was lost on no one yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting on the inside through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” justification he gave to the racing knight following his collision with Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent to allow Prost to defeat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he had with his team colleague during the pass. This incident was a result of him touching the car of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; the implication being their collision was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to step in in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, getting interesting will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to act correctly.

Racing purity against team management

Yet having drivers competing for the title looking to the pitwall to decide matters appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided on track. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and then cleared up later in private.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said that they did, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said post-race. “However finally it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser to just close the books and step back from the fray.