🔗 Share this article

McLaren along with Formula One could do with any conclusive outcome during this championship battle involving Norris and Piastri getting resolved through on-track action and without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale begins this weekend at COTA on Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix fallout prompts team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a reset. The British driver was likely fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous grand prix weekend. During an intense title fight with the Australian, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident that provoked his comment differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for just going on the inside of a big gap then you should not be in Formula One,” stated Norris of his opening-lap attempt to pass that led to the cars colliding.

The remark appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “Should you stop attempting an available gap that exists you are no longer a racing driver” defence he provided to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with Alain Prost in Japan in 1990, securing him the title.

Similar spirit but different circumstances

While the spirit is similar, the wording marks where parallels stop. Senna later admitted he never intended to allow Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris did try to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. In fact, his maneuver was legitimate which received no penalty despite the minor contact he had with his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself was a result of him touching the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that their collision was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to return the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that during disputes of contention, both will promptly appeal to the team 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 strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers bad luck, tactical calls and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, six races left, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, there is what each driver perceives as fair and when their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. That is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – turn somewhat into the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff post-race. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess aggression will increase a bit more. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

Audience expectations and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated in the form of a track duel instead of a data-driven decision of circumstances. Especially since in Formula One the other impression from all this isn't very inspiring.

Honestly speaking, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as team principal they possess a moral and principled leader who truly aims to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against squad control

Yet having drivers competing for the title appealing to the team for resolutions is unedifying. Their contest ought to be determined through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, but better to let them simply go at it and see how fortune falls, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the squad to ascertain whether intervention is needed and then cleared up later in private.

The examination will increase and each time it happens it is in danger of potentially making a difference which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made for position swaps 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 spectre of a fear of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship endlessly debated over perceived that fairness attempts were unequal. Questioned whether he felt the team had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri said that they did, but mentioned it's a developing process.

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

Six meetings remain. McLaren have little wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser to just stop analyzing and step back from the fray.