Norris as Ayrton Senna and Piastri as Alain Prost? No, however the team must hope title gets decided through racing

The British racing team and F1 could do with anything decisive during this championship battle between Norris and Piastri getting resolved on the track and without resorting to the pit wall with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad will be hoping for a fresh start. The British driver was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context 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 well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

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

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting an available gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” defence he provided to the racing knight after he ploughed into Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

Although the attitude is similar, the wording marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him at turn one while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague during the pass. That itself was a result of him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris ought to be told to give back the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene in their favor.

Squad management and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now includes bad luck, strategy and racing incidents such as in Singapore – there is the question of perception.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship between the two may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin 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 the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Not least because in Formula One the alternative perception from all this is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who truly aims to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against team management

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be pored over by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it risks potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Previously, after the team made for position swaps at Monza because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also looms.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better to just close the books and withdraw from the conflict.