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The British racing team along with F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this title fight involving Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri being decided on the track and without resorting to team orders with the championship finale begins at the COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“If you fault me for just going on the inside of a big gap then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with Alain Prost in Japan in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

Although the attitude remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort 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 touching the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race one another and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists as fair and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come to a situation where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. 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 (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against team management

However, with racers competing for the title appealing to the team to decide matters appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided through racing. Luck and destiny will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be pored over by the squad to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will increase and each time it happens it is in danger of potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but noted it's a developing process.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said after Singapore. “But ultimately it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.