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McLaren and F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Lando Norris and Piastri getting resolved on the track and without resorting to the pit wall with the championship finale kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath prompts internal strain

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and tense post-race analyses concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment differed completely to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“If you fault me for just going on the inside through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to overtake which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting an available gap which is there then you cease to be a racing driver” justification he gave to the racing knight following his collision with Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself stemmed from him clipping the car of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that their collision was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to give back the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics 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. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

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 spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for their interests with successful results. They clinched their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they possess a moral and principled leader who truly aims to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity versus squad control

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall to decide matters is unedifying. Their competition should be decided on track. Chance and fate will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely 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 examination will intensify with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places in Italy because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly by both drivers, 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 said after Singapore. “But ultimately it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser to just close the books and step back from the fray.