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The British racing team along with Formula One would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this championship battle involving Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without resorting to the pit wall as the championship finale kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels of his riposte toward his upset colleague at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, his reference to a famous Senna well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “If you no longer go an available gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into Alain Prost in Japan in 1990, securing him the championship.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

While the spirit is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him through the first corner while Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate as he went through. This incident stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; the implication being the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race one another and strive to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there is the question regarding opinions.

Of most import for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. Which is when the amicable relationship among them could eventually – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“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 aggression will increase a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation instead of a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the alternative perception from all this is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making the correct decisions for their interests with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Racing purity against squad control

However, with racers competing for the title appealing to the team for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Chance and fate will play their part, but better to let them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing 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 emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered 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 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 after Singapore. “However finally it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.