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The British racing team along with F1 could do with any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Norris & Piastri being decided on the track and without reference to team orders as the championship finale kicks off this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to team tensions

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs concluded, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting on the inside through an opening then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion in Japan back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

Although the attitude is similar, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent of letting Prost beat him through the first corner while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his team colleague during the pass. That itself stemmed from him clipping 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 forbidden under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris should be instructed to return the place he had made. 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 under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come a point where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I guess aggression will increase further. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For spectators, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated as an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Especially since for F1 the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for themselves with successful results. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and principled leader who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity against squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their contest ought to be determined through racing. Chance and fate will have roles, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it risks potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed because it may be considered that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he stated after Singapore. “However finally it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.