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The British racing team and Formula One could do with anything decisive during this title fight between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided through on-track action and without resorting to team orders as the title run-in kicks off at the COTA on Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful debriefs dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested title fight with the Australian, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's great rivalries.

“If you fault me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting 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 at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

While the spirit is similar, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent to allow Prost to defeat him through the first corner while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague as he went through. This incident stemmed from him touching the car driven by Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten by team protocols of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the position he gained. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, tactical calls and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists as fair and at what point their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. Which is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where minor points count,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Especially since 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 in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus squad control

Yet having drivers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their contest ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, than the impression that every disputed moment will be pored over by the squad to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up later in private.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy because Norris had endured a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we discussed various aspects,” he said post-race. “However finally it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.