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McLaren and Formula One would benefit from anything decisive in the title fight between Lando Norris and Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without resorting to team orders as the title run-in kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout prompts team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel with the Australian, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments was lost on no one but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined Senna's great rivalries.

“If you fault me for just going on the inside through an opening then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

The remark seemed to echo Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the wording is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he had no intent to allow Prost to defeat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself was a result of him clipping the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and impartiality being examined

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists as fair and when their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come to a situation where minor points count,” 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 begins to become thrilling.”

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 rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity against team management

However, with racers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions 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 squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will intensify with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, after the team made for position swaps at Monza because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, 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. When asked if he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but noted it's a developing process.

“We've had several difficult situations and we discussed various aspects,” he stated after Singapore. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little wriggle room left to do their cramming, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.