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McLaren and F1 could do with any conclusive outcome during this title fight between Norris and Piastri being decided through on-track action and without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale begins at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts internal strain

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs concluded, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous grand prix weekend. During an intense championship duel against Piastri, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature to those that defined Senna's great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for just going on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go for a gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into Alain Prost in Japan back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

Although the attitude remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent to allow Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself was a result of him touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; the implication being their collision was verboten under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to step in on his behalf.

Team dynamics and fairness being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes bad luck, tactical calls and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because in Formula One the alternative perception from all this isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and with Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against squad control

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely 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 then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, after the team made their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to witness a championship endlessly debated because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we discussed a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “However finally it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply close the books and withdraw from the conflict.