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The British racing team along with F1 would benefit from anything decisive in the championship battle involving Norris and Piastri being decided through on-track action rather than without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath prompts internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a fresh start. Norris was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to overtake which resulted in the cars colliding.

The remark seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap that exists then you cease to be a true racer” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into Alain Prost in Japan back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him at turn one while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that their collision was verboten under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to return the position he gained. The team refused, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, each would quickly ask to the team to step in on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Of most import for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate 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 spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the alternative perception from these events is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity against squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will play their part, but better to let them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will increase and each time it happens it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

No one wants 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 managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he stated after Singapore. “But ultimately it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply close the books and step back from the conflict.