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The British racing team and Formula One would benefit from anything decisive in the championship battle between Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action rather than without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going on the inside through an opening then you don't belong in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost to defeat him through the first corner while Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. This incident was a result of him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being their collision 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 in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss Wolff post-race. “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 become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated as an on-track confrontation instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Especially since for F1 the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to ascertain whether 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 that could be critical. Previously, after the team made for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but noted it's a developing process.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated post-race. “However finally it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little room for error for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better to just close the books and step back from the fray.