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The British racing team and Formula One would benefit from anything decisive during this championship battle between Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri being decided on the track and without resorting to team orders with the title run-in begins at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to internal strain

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs dealt with, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly more than aware about the historical parallels of his riposte toward his upset colleague at the last grand prix weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments was lost on no one but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

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

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend'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 following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent of letting Prost beat him through the first corner while Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague as he went through. That itself was a result of him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that in any cases of contention, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in in their favor.

Squad management and fairness being examined

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 over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, tactical calls and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss 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 get interesting.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since in Formula One the alternative perception from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and principled leader who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity against squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided through racing. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to ascertain whether they need to intervene and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri believing 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 endlessly debated over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we discussed a number of things,” he stated post-race. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better now to simply close the books and withdraw from the conflict.