🔗 Share this article

McLaren along with Formula One could do with anything decisive in the title fight between Norris and Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to team orders as the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to internal strain

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and tense post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was likely more than aware of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined the Brazilian’s great rivalries.

“If you fault me for simply attempting an inside move through an opening then you should not be in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass which resulted in the cars colliding.

The remark seemed to echo Senna’s “Should you stop attempting an available gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into Alain Prost in Japan in 1990, securing him the championship.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit is similar, the wording is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent to allow Prost beat him at turn one whereas Norris did try to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague as he went through. This incident was a result of him clipping the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being the two teammates clashing was verboten under McLaren’s rules for racing and Norris ought to be told to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask the squad to step in in their favor.

Team dynamics and fairness being examined

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to let their drivers race against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now includes bad luck, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives on fairness and at what point their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship among them may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come to a situation where minor points count,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and re-calculations and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

For spectators, in what is a two-horse race, increased excitement will probably be welcomed as an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests 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 with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and principled leader who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Sporting integrity versus squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that every disputed moment will be pored over by the squad to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it risks possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made 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 at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern of favouritism also looms.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had acted correctly toward both racers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we discussed a number of things,” he said after Singapore. “But ultimately it's educational for the entire squad.”

Six meetings remain. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, so it may be better now to simply close the books and withdraw from the conflict.