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McLaren along with Formula One could do with any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action rather than without resorting to the pit wall as the title run-in begins this weekend at Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, McLaren is aiming for a reset. The British driver was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous race weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you don't belong in Formula One,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to overtake which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go for a gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost in Japan back in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

Although the attitude is similar, the wording is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent to allow Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty despite the minor contact he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident was a result of him touching the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; 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. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to step in on his behalf.

Squad management and impartiality being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Aside from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when the amicable relationship among them may – finally – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out further. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, getting interesting will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and with Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and upright commander who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Racing purity against team management

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided on track. Chance and fate will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

No one wants to witness a championship constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated after Singapore. “However finally it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the fray.