🔗 Share this article

The British racing team and Formula One could do with any conclusive outcome during this championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved on the track and without resorting to the pit wall with the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath prompts team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and tense post-race analyses concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. Norris was likely fully conscious about the historical parallels regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested 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.

“If you fault me for simply attempting an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass which resulted in their vehicles making contact.

His comment seemed to echo the Brazilian legend's “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there then you cease to be a racing driver” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, securing him the championship.

Similar spirit yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he never intended to allow Prost to defeat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he made against his team colleague as he went through. This incident stemmed from him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; suggesting that their collision was verboten under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to give back the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that during disputes between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to intervene in their favor.

Squad management and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete one another and strive to maintain strict fairness. Aside from tying some torturous knots when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, tactical calls and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads 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. That is when the amicable relationship among them may – finally – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It will reach to a situation where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff post-race. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out further. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Audience expectations and title consequences

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 data-driven decision of circumstances. Not least because for F1 the other impression from all this is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for their interests and it has paid off. They clinched their 10th constructors’ title in Singapore (though a great achievement diminished by the controversy from their drivers' clash) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they have an ethical and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.

Sporting integrity versus squad control

Yet having drivers in a championship fight appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Luck and destiny will have roles, but better to let them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the team to determine if they need to intervene and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The scrutiny will increase and each time it happens it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Previously, following the team's decision their drivers swap places in Italy because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri feeling he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern of favouritism also looms.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

No one wants to witness a championship constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right by both drivers, Piastri responded that they did, but noted it's a developing process.

“There’s been some difficult situations and we’ve spoken about various aspects,” he stated post-race. “However finally it's educational with the whole team.”

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.