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The British racing team and Formula One would benefit from any conclusive outcome in the title fight between Norris & Piastri being decided on the track and without reference to team orders as the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to internal strain

After the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs concluded, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. The British driver was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, his reference to a famous Senna well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence that provoked his comment differed completely to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to the cars colliding.

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” justification he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion in Japan back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him at turn one while Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him clipping the car driven by Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that their collision was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, both will promptly appeal the squad to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race one another and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and when their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the alternative perception from all this is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices 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 have an ethical and principled leader who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall to decide matters appears unsightly. Their contest ought to be determined through racing. Chance and fate will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the squad to ascertain whether intervention is needed and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase and each time it happens it is in danger of potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps at Monza because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship endlessly debated because it may be considered that fairness attempts were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we discussed a number of things,” he said post-race. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply close the books and step back from the fray.