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

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath prompts internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. Norris was likely more than aware of the historical context regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last race weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going on the inside of a big gap then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap that exists you are no longer a racing driver” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with Alain Prost at Suzuka in 1990, securing him the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent of letting Prost beat him at turn one while 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 made against his team colleague during the pass. That itself was a result of him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to give back the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and when their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport among them 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 Toto Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess aggression will increase further. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For the audience, 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 all this isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader 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 to decide matters appears unsightly. Their competition should be decided through racing. Chance and fate will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be pored over by the team to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up later in private.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.