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McLaren along with F1 could do with anything decisive during this title fight involving Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided on the track rather than without resorting to team orders with the title run-in begins at the COTA starting Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath prompts team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. Norris was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes was lost on no one yet the occurrence that provoked his comment differed completely to those that defined Senna's great rivalries.

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

The remark seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting an available gap that exists then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost to defeat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him clipping the car of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now includes misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

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

Viewer desires and title consequences

For the audience, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as a track duel rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the alternative perception from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement overshadowed by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Sporting integrity versus team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the squad to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed because it may be considered that fairness attempts had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, 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 a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal room for error for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better to just close the books and withdraw from the conflict.