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McLaren along with F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this championship battle involving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided through on-track action and without reference to team orders as the title run-in begins this weekend at Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath prompts team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. Norris was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go for a gap that exists you are no longer a racing driver” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the title.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost beat him at turn one while Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; the implication being their collision was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. 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 a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss Toto 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 become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because in Formula One the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against team management

However, with racers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters appears unsightly. Their contest ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be pored over by the squad to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny 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 at Monza due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several difficult situations and we discussed various aspects,” 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 to do their cramming, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.