🔗 Share this article

McLaren along with F1 would benefit from anything decisive in the title fight between Norris and Oscar Piastri being decided on the track and without resorting to team orders as the title run-in kicks off this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to team tensions

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs concluded, 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 race weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault 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 pass 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 then you cease to be a racing driver” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion in Japan in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

Although the attitude remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate 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 touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; the implication being their collision was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete one another and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and at what point their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship among them may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It will reach to a situation where minor points count,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and re-calculations 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 spectators, 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. Especially since for F1 the alternative perception from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity against squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be pored over by the squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will increase and each time it happens it risks possibly affecting outcomes that could be critical. Previously, after the team made for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the shadow of concern of favouritism also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri said he believed they had, but mentioned that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several difficult situations and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said post-race. “However finally it’s a learning process 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.