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The British racing team and F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this title fight between Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided on the track and without reference to team orders with the title run-in begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath prompts internal strain

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. During an intense championship duel against Piastri, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

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

The remark seemed to echo Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there then you cease to be a true racer” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost in Japan back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty despite the minor contact he had with his team colleague as he went through. This incident stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to give back the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, strategy and racing incidents 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 on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out further. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will likely be appreciated as a track duel instead of a data-driven decision of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests with successful results. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against team management

Yet having drivers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined 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 team to ascertain whether they need to intervene and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we discussed a number of things,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. 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.