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McLaren and F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided through on-track action rather than without reference to team orders with the title run-in begins at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to internal strain

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense debriefs concluded, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a reset. Norris was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context of his riposte toward his upset colleague during the previous race weekend. During an intense title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments was lost on no one but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“If you fault me for just going on the inside of a big gap then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” justification he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost in Japan in 1990, securing him the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended of letting Prost beat him at turn one while Norris did try 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 as he went through. That itself was a result of him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in in their favor.

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 maintain strict fairness. Aside from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, tactical calls and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations 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 spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as a track duel instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making the correct decisions for their interests with successful results. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall to decide matters 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 each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to ascertain whether they need to intervene and then cleared up later in private.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern of favouritism also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship endlessly debated because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we discussed a number of things,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser to just stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.