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McLaren and F1 could do with any conclusive outcome in the title fight involving Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action rather than without resorting to team orders with the title run-in kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to internal strain

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment differed completely 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,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go for a gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, securing him the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself stemmed from him touching the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; the implication being their collision was verboten under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Of most import for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. 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 team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “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.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of an on-track confrontation instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. 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 themselves with successful results. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Racing purity versus team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition should be decided on track. Chance and fate will play their part, but better to let them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated because it may be considered that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but noted it's a developing process.

“We've had several difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said post-race. “However finally it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser now to simply close the books and withdraw from the fray.