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The British racing team along with F1 could do with any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri being decided on the track rather than without resorting to team orders with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and tense post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to overtake which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap that exists then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he provided to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his team colleague during the pass. This incident stemmed from him touching the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; suggesting that their collision was forbidden by team protocols for racing and Norris ought to be told to give back the place he had made. 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 fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete one another and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. Which is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I suppose aggression will increase a bit more. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel instead of a data-driven decision of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity against team management

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, than the impression 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 increase and each time it happens it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, after the team made for position swaps in Italy because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to witness a championship constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we discussed a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better to just close the books and withdraw from the fray.