Norris compared to Ayrton Senna and Piastri as Alain Prost? Not exactly, however McLaren needs to pray title gets decided on track

The British racing team and Formula One would benefit from any conclusive outcome in the title fight involving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without resorting to the pit wall with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts team tensions

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, McLaren is aiming for a reset. Norris was likely more than aware about the historical parallels of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate at the last grand prix weekend. During an intense championship duel with the Australian, his reference to a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing Senna's great rivalries.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move through an opening then you should not be in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap that exists then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he gave to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion in Japan in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

Although the attitude is similar, the wording is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he had no intent of letting Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident was a result of him touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen ahead of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was forbidden by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to let their drivers race one another and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now covers bad luck, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Of most import to the title race, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and at what point their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes boss 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 get interesting.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, during this dual battle, increased excitement will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship 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 genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity against team management

However, with racers competing for the title appealing to the team for resolutions appears unsightly. Their contest 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, 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 scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it risks possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, following the team's decision for position swaps at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title endlessly debated because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri said he believed they had, but noted it's a developing process.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated after Singapore. “But ultimately it's educational with the whole team.”

Six races stay. McLaren have little wriggle room left to do their cramming, so it may be better to just stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.