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McLaren along with Formula One would benefit from anything decisive during this title fight between Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to team orders as 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 undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was likely more than aware about the historical parallels regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous race weekend. During an intense championship duel with the Australian, his reference to a famous Senna most famous sentiments was lost on no one yet the occurrence that provoked his comment differed completely from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting an available gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” justification he provided to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost beat him through the first corner while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate 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 in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that 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, yet it demonstrated that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents 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.

Of most import to the title race, six races left, Piastri is ahead of 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. That is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” commented Mercedes boss Toto Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will probably be welcomed in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration of circumstances. Not least because in Formula One the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity 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 play their part, but better to let them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, than the impression that every disputed moment will be pored over by the squad to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Previously, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship endlessly debated because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted it's a developing process.

“We've had several difficult situations and we discussed various aspects,” he said after Singapore. “However finally it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser now to simply close the books and withdraw from the conflict.