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McLaren and Formula One would benefit from anything decisive during this championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to team orders as the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. Norris was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, his reference to a famous Senna well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move through an opening then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap which is there then you cease to be a true racer” justification he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into the French champion in Japan back in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

While the spirit is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost to defeat him at turn one while Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his team colleague as he went through. This incident stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; suggesting that their collision was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to give back the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene in their favor.

Squad management and fairness being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race one another and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists as fair and at what point their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. Which is when the amicable relationship among them may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I suppose the elbows are going to come out further. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for themselves with successful results. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical 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 is unedifying. Their contest should be decided on track. Chance and fate will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be pored over by the team to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

No one wants to witness a championship 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 challenging moments and we discussed a number of things,” he stated after Singapore. “But ultimately it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.