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McLaren along with F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this title fight between Lando Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale begins at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel with the Australian, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes was lost on no one yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting an available gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion in Japan back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him through the first corner while Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague during the pass. This incident stemmed from him touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I suppose 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, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel instead of a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against team management

Yet having drivers competing for the title looking to the pitwall to decide matters appears unsightly. Their contest ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, than the impression 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 increase with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps at Monza because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several difficult situations and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser to just stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.