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McLaren along with F1 would benefit from anything decisive during this championship battle involving Norris & Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without resorting to team orders with the title run-in begins at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. Norris was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context of his riposte toward his upset colleague during the previous race weekend. During an intense championship duel against Piastri, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes 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 just going on the inside through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” justification he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent to allow Prost beat him at turn one while Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he made against his team colleague during the pass. This incident was a result of him touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that during disputes of contention, both will promptly appeal to the team to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when 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 minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations 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, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished 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.

Racing purity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition 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 pored over by the team to ascertain whether they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will increase and each time it happens it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, after the team made for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several difficult situations and we discussed a number of things,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply close the books and step back from the fray.