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The British racing team and F1 could do with any conclusive outcome in the title fight involving Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri getting resolved on the track and without resorting to the pit wall as the title run-in kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was likely fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments was lost on no one yet the occurrence that provoked his comment differed completely from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting an available gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he had no intent of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself was a result of him clipping the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, 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 return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when the amicable relationship between the two could eventually – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I suppose aggression will increase a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated as an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because in Formula One the alternative perception from these events is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests with successful results. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their contest should be decided through racing. Chance and fate will have roles, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be pored over by the squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. 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.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we discussed various aspects,” he said post-race. “However finally it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply close the books and withdraw from the fray.