🔗 Share this article

The British racing team along with Formula One would benefit from anything decisive during this title fight between Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved through on-track action rather than without reference to the pit wall as the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to internal strain

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. Norris was likely more than aware of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate at the last race 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 was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting on the inside through an opening then you should not be in F1,” Norris said of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to the cars colliding.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “If you no longer go for a 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.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself stemmed from him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, immediately declared 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 give back the place he had made. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in on his behalf.

Team dynamics and fairness under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents over what constitutes just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, strategy and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue of perception.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads 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. Which is when the amicable relationship among them could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It will reach a point where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I guess aggression will increase a bit more. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For spectators, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the other impression from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who genuinely wants to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition should be decided through racing. Chance and fate will have roles, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be analyzed intensely by the team to ascertain whether intervention is needed and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a delayed stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics at Hungary, where Norris won, the spectre of a fear about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

No one wants to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. When asked if he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

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

Six races stay. McLaren have little wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser to just close the books and step back from the conflict.