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McLaren and Formula One could do with anything decisive during this championship battle involving Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri being decided on the track rather than without reference to team orders with the championship finale begins at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout prompts team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses dealt with, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was likely fully conscious 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 most famous sentiments was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he made against his team colleague as he went through. That itself was a result of him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was forbidden by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to give back the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask the squad to step in in their favor.

Squad management and impartiality being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach 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 fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists as fair and when their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I suppose aggression will increase further. 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 data-driven decision regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for themselves with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Sporting integrity versus team management

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern of favouritism also looms.

Team perspective and future challenges

No one wants to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said post-race. “However finally it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better now to simply close the books and step back from the fray.