Lando Norris compared to Senna versus Piastri likened to Prost? No, but McLaren needs to pray title is settled on track

McLaren along with F1 would benefit from any conclusive outcome during this championship battle between Lando Norris & Piastri being decided through on-track action and without resorting to the pit wall as the championship finale kicks off at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

Marina Bay race aftermath leads to team tensions

With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and tense debriefs dealt with, McLaren is aiming for a reset. Norris was almost certainly fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte toward his upset colleague at the last grand prix weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel with the Australian, his reference to one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed yet the occurrence which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined the Brazilian’s iconic battles.

“If you fault me for simply attempting an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in F1,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to overtake that led to the cars colliding.

His comment appeared to paraphrase Senna’s “If you no longer go for a gap which is there you are no longer a racing driver” defence he gave to Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion at Suzuka in 1990, ensuring he took the title.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

Although the attitude is similar, the phrasing is where the similarities end. Senna later admitted he had no intent to allow Prost beat him through the first corner while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his team colleague as he went through. That itself was a result of him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen in front of him.

The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris gaining the place was “unfair”; suggesting that their collision was forbidden by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to give back the place he had made. The team refused, but it was indicative that in any cases of contention, each would quickly ask to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Team dynamics and impartiality under scrutiny

This comes naturally of McLaren’s laudable efforts to allow their racers compete against each other and to try to maintain strict fairness. Aside from creating complex dilemmas in setting precedents about what defines fair or unfair – which, under these auspices, now includes bad luck, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by twenty-two points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport between the two could eventually – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.

“It’s going to come a point where a few points will matter,” said Mercedes team principal Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I guess aggression will increase 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 probably be welcomed in the form of an on-track confrontation rather than a spreadsheet-based arbitration regarding incidents. Not least because for F1 the other impression from these events isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking appropriate choices for themselves and it has paid off. They clinched their tenth team championship in Singapore (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as team principal they have an ethical and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.

Racing purity versus squad control

However, with racers competing for the title appealing to the team to decide matters is unedifying. Their competition should be decided through racing. Luck and destiny will play their part, yet preferable to allow 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 intervention is needed and subsequently resolved afterwards behind closed doors.

The examination will intensify with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Already, after the team made for position swaps in Italy due to Norris experiencing a slow pit stop and Piastri feeling he had been hard done by with the strategy call in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.

Team perspective and future challenges

Nobody desires to witness a championship endlessly debated over perceived that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he felt the team had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“We've had several challenging moments and we’ve spoken about a number of things,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it’s a learning process for the entire squad.”

Six races stay. The team has minimal wriggle room left to do their cramming, thus perhaps wiser now to simply stop analyzing and withdraw from the conflict.