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McLaren along with Formula One would benefit from anything decisive during this championship battle between Norris & Piastri getting resolved on the track rather than without resorting to the pit wall as the title run-in begins at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout prompts team tensions

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was likely fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked a famous Senna well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go for a gap that exists you are no longer a racing driver” defence he gave to the racing knight after he ploughed into Alain Prost in Japan in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended of letting Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself was a result of him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; the implication being the two teammates clashing was forbidden by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to return the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene on his behalf.

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. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, tactical calls and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists as fair and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. Which is when the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come to a situation where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I suppose the elbows are going to come out further. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because in Formula One the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests and it has paid off. 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 upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest ought to be determined on track. Chance and fate will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the squad to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny 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 for position swaps in Italy because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the shadow of concern of favouritism also looms.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that fairness attempts were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little wriggle room left to do their cramming, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.