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The British racing team along with Formula One could do with anything decisive during this title fight involving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided through on-track action rather than without resorting to team orders with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath prompts team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte toward his upset colleague at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s 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.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit is similar, the wording is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself stemmed from him clipping the car of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, instantly stated that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; suggesting that their collision was forbidden by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask 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 maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now includes misfortune, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import to the title race, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss 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 become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for their interests with successful results. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they possess a moral and principled leader who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against team management

However, with racers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters is unedifying. Their contest ought to be determined on track. Chance and fate will have roles, but better to let them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, following the team's decision for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

No one wants to witness a championship endlessly debated because it may be considered that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri said that they did, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several difficult situations and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he stated after Singapore. “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 step back from the conflict.