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The British racing team and Formula One could do with anything decisive in the title fight between Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided through on-track action and without reference to team orders with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to internal strain

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s doubtless extensive and tense post-race analyses concluded, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly more than aware about the historical parallels of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments was lost on no one but the incident which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature 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,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to overtake which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

The remark seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go for a gap which is there then you cease to be a true racer” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion in Japan in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, 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 did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him clipping the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris should be instructed to give back the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, each would quickly ask to the team to step in in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now covers misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and with Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity against squad control

However, with racers competing for the title appealing to the team to decide matters appears unsightly. Their competition ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase and each time it happens it risks possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

No one wants to see a title endlessly debated because it may be considered that fairness attempts were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little wriggle room left to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.