Lando Norris as Ayrton Senna and Piastri as Prost? Not exactly, but McLaren must hope title is settled on track

The British racing team along with F1 could do with any conclusive outcome during this title fight between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided on the track rather than without resorting to team orders with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout leads to internal strain

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a reset. The British driver was likely more than aware of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. During an intense championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined Senna's great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for just going on the inside through an opening then you don't belong in Formula One,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to overtake that led to their vehicles making contact.

The remark appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting an available gap that exists you are no longer a true racer” justification he gave to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion in Japan in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he had no intent of letting Prost beat 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 made against his team colleague as he went through. This incident was a result of him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris ought to be told to return the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, both will promptly appeal the squad to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes boss Wolff after Singapore. “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.”

Viewer desires and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Especially since for F1 the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

To be fair, McLaren are making the correct decisions for their interests and it has paid off. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the fuss prompted by their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Sporting integrity versus squad control

Yet having drivers competing for the title looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and then cleared up later in private.

The scrutiny will increase and each time it happens it risks possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to see a title endlessly debated because it may be considered that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he stated after Singapore. “However finally it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better to just close the books and step back from the fray.