Lando Norris as Senna and Piastri likened to Alain Prost? Not exactly, however McLaren needs to pray championship gets decided on track

McLaren along with F1 could do with anything decisive in the title fight involving Lando Norris & Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without resorting to team orders as the title run-in begins this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Marina Bay race fallout leads to internal strain

With the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense debriefs dealt with, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly more than aware of the historical context regarding his retort toward his upset colleague during the previous grand prix weekend. During an intense championship duel with the Australian, his reference to a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“If you fault me for just going an inside move of a big gap then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris regarding his first-lap move to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists then you cease to be a racing driver” justification he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

Although the attitude remains comparable, the wording is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he never intended of letting Prost to defeat him at turn one while Norris did try to make his pass cleanly at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague during the pass. This incident was a result of him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, instantly stated that Norris's position gain was “unfair”; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene in their favor.

Squad management and fairness under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes just or unjust – which, under these auspices, now covers misfortune, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially to the title race, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, in what is a two-horse race, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of an on-track confrontation instead of a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for themselves with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to act correctly.

Racing purity versus squad control

However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall to decide matters is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be pored over by the squad to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will intensify and each time it happens it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Previously, after the team made for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

No one wants to witness a championship constantly disputed over perceived that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“We've had several challenging moments and we discussed various aspects,” he stated post-race. “However finally it's educational 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 withdraw from the conflict.