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McLaren and F1 could do with any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved on the track and without reference to the pit wall as the championship finale begins at the COTA starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout prompts team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses concluded, 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 race weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, his reference to a famous Senna well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for just going on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

The remark appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting an available gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into Alain Prost in Japan back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the wording is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he never intended of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself stemmed from him touching the car driven by Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; 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. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that in any cases of contention, each would quickly ask 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 let their drivers race one another and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now includes misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue of perception.

Of most import 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 among them may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Not least because in Formula One the alternative perception from these events is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making the correct decisions for themselves with successful results. They clinched their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and principled leader who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Racing purity versus squad control

However, with racers competing for the title appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their contest 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 pored over by the squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also looms.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little room for error for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and step back from the fray.