🔗 Share this article

The British racing team along with F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this championship battle involving Norris and Oscar Piastri getting resolved on the track rather than without resorting to team orders as the title run-in begins at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and tense debriefs concluded, McLaren will be hoping for a fresh start. Norris was likely fully conscious of the historical context regarding his retort to his aggrieved teammate at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked one of Ayrton Senna’s most famous sentiments did not go unnoticed 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 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 which resulted in the cars colliding.

The remark seemed to echo Senna’s “If you no longer go an available gap which is there you are no longer a true racer” defence he provided to the racing knight after he ploughed into Alain Prost at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset yet distinct situations

While the spirit remains comparable, the phrasing is where the similarities end. The late champion confessed he had no intent of letting Prost beat him through the first corner whereas Norris attempted to make his pass cleanly in Singapore. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort which received no penalty even with the glancing blow he had with his McLaren teammate during the pass. That itself was a result of him clipping the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; the implication being their collision was forbidden by team protocols of engagement and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that during disputes of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene in their favor.

Squad management and impartiality being examined

This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to be as scrupulously fair. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules about what defines fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now includes bad luck, tactical calls and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Of most import for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri is ahead of Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. That is when the amicable relationship between the two could eventually – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It’s going to come to a situation where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I guess the elbows are going to come out further. That's when it begins to become thrilling.”

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 a track duel rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Especially since for F1 the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.

Honestly speaking, McLaren are making appropriate choices for their interests with successful results. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (though a great achievement overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and principled leader who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus team management

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall to decide matters is unedifying. Their competition should be decided on track. Chance and fate will play their part, yet preferable to allow them just battle freely and observe outcomes naturally, than the impression that each contentious incident will be analyzed intensely by the squad to ascertain whether they need to intervene and subsequently resolved later in private.

The scrutiny will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of potentially making a difference that could be critical. Already, after the team made their drivers swap places at Monza due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly with the strategy call at Hungary, where Norris won, the shadow of concern of favouritism also emerges.

Squad viewpoint and upcoming tests

No one wants to witness a championship endlessly debated because it may be considered that fairness attempts had not been balanced. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said 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 races stay. The team has minimal room for error to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser to just stop analyzing and step back from the conflict.