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McLaren and Formula One could do with any conclusive outcome in the title fight involving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to the pit wall with the title run-in kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to internal strain

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and tense post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel with the Australian, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” defence he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion in Japan in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate 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 of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the position he gained. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene in their favor.

Squad management and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and when their opinion may diverge 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 will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out further. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity against team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition should be decided through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, but better to let them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places in Italy because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the shadow of concern of favouritism also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he believed the squad had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated 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 to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.