🔗 Share this article

The British racing team along with F1 could do with any conclusive outcome during this championship battle between Norris and Piastri being decided on the track and without reference to the pit wall as the title run-in begins at the COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath prompts team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses concluded, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a fresh start. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. During an intense title fight against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna well-known quotes was lost on no one but the incident that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature from incidents characterizing the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to overtake that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment appeared to paraphrase the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap that exists you are no longer a racing driver” justification he provided to the racing knight following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him at turn one 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 made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself stemmed from him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain 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. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, both will promptly appeal the squad to intervene in their favor.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This is part and parcel of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and to try to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, tactical calls and on-track occurrences such as in Singapore – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially to the title race, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists as fair and when their perspectives might split from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship among them may – finally – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes boss Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out further. That’s when it starts 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 an on-track confrontation rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Especially since in Formula One the alternative perception from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making the correct decisions for themselves with successful results. They secured their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and with Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team to decide matters appears unsightly. Their contest should be decided 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 ascertain whether 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, 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 of favouritism also looms.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

No one wants to witness a championship endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts had not been balanced. When asked if he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations 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 room for error for last-minute adjustments, thus perhaps wiser to just stop analyzing and withdraw from the fray.