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The British racing team and F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved on the track rather than without reference to team orders as the championship finale begins this weekend at Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and tense debriefs dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. The British driver was likely more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s 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 just going an inside move through an opening then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

The remark seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into Alain Prost in Japan back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the wording is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris ought to be told to give back the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, both will promptly appeal the squad to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness being examined

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach a point where minor points count,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Not least because in Formula One the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for themselves with successful results. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who truly aims to act correctly.

Racing purity versus team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition should be decided through racing. Chance and fate will play their part, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the team 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 possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Previously, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser to just stop analyzing and step back from the fray.