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The British racing team along with F1 would benefit from anything decisive during this championship battle involving Norris and Piastri being decided on the track rather than without resorting to the pit wall with the title run-in begins at the Circuit of the Americas starting Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and tense post-race analyses concluded, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. The British driver was likely fully conscious of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague at the last race weekend. During an intense championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement differed completely from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to the cars colliding.

The remark seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” justification he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the title.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself was a result of him clipping the car driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, each would quickly ask the squad to step in in their favor.

Squad management and fairness under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now covers misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Of most import to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their perspectives might split with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – become a little bit more Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come to a situation where minor points count,” commented Mercedes boss Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I suppose aggression will increase a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will probably be welcomed in the form of a track duel instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (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 principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Racing purity versus team management

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their contest ought to be determined through racing. Chance and fate will play their part, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, than the impression that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the squad to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved later in private.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and upcoming tests

No one wants to witness a championship endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several difficult situations and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he stated after Singapore. “However finally it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the fray.