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McLaren and Formula One would benefit from any conclusive outcome in the championship battle between Lando Norris and Piastri getting resolved on the track and without reference to the pit wall as the championship finale kicks off this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to internal strain

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked a famous Senna well-known quotes 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.

“If you fault 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 pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

The remark seemed to echo Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the wording is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague during the pass. This incident stemmed from him touching the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was forbidden under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to give back the position he gained. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to step in on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race one another and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I suppose aggression will increase further. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For spectators, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Especially since for F1 the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves with successful results. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity against team management

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided through racing. Chance and fate will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely 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 then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the shadow of concern of favouritism also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we discussed various aspects,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little room for error for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.