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The British racing team along with F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this championship battle between Lando Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to team orders with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was likely fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte toward his upset colleague at the last grand prix weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments was lost on no one yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting on the inside through an opening then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to their vehicles making contact.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting an available gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost in Japan back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he made against his team colleague during the pass. That itself was a result of him touching the car of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and impartiality 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. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists as fair and when their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when the amicable relationship between the two could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

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

Viewer desires and title consequences

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will likely be appreciated as an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from all this isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Racing purity versus squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The examination will increase and each time it happens it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, after the team made for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.