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The British racing team along with Formula One could do with anything decisive during this title fight involving Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action rather than without reference to team orders as the championship finale kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs dealt with, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate during the previous grand prix weekend. During an intense championship duel with the Australian, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments was lost on no one yet the occurrence which triggered his statement differed completely from incidents characterizing Senna's great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to overtake which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

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” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost at Suzuka in 1990, securing him the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the wording is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident was a result of him clipping the car of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask to the team to step in on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there is the question regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists as fair and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when the amicable relationship between the two could eventually – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations and I guess 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 likely be appreciated as a track duel instead of a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because in Formula One the alternative perception from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests with successful results. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity versus team management

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition should be decided through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, but better to let them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Already, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we discussed various aspects,” he stated post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser to just stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.