Norris compared to Senna and Piastri likened to Alain Prost? Not exactly, but McLaren needs to pray championship gets decided on track

McLaren along with F1 could do with any conclusive outcome in the championship battle involving Norris & Piastri being decided on the track rather than without reference to the pit wall with the championship finale kicks off this weekend at COTA starting Friday.

Singapore Grand Prix aftermath leads to team tensions

After the Singapore Grand Prix’s undoubtedly thorough and stressful debriefs dealt with, the Woking-based squad is aiming for a reset. Norris was almost certainly 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 one of Ayrton Senna’s well-known quotes did not go unnoticed but the incident which triggered his statement differed completely to those that defined Senna's iconic battles.

“Should you criticize me for simply attempting an inside move of a big gap then you don't belong in Formula One,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to pass that led to their vehicles making contact.

His comment seemed to echo Senna’s “Should you stop attempting for a gap which is there then you cease to be a true racer” defence he provided to the racing knight after he ploughed into the French champion at Suzuka back in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.

Parallel mindset but different circumstances

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 at turn one while Norris did try to execute a clean overtake at the Marina Bay circuit. Indeed, his maneuver was legitimate that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he made against his McLaren teammate during the pass. This incident stemmed from him touching the Red Bull driven by Verstappen ahead of him.

Piastri reacted furiously and, significantly, instantly stated that Norris gaining the place seemed unjust; suggesting that their collision was verboten by team protocols for racing and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. McLaren did not do so, yet it demonstrated that in any cases of contention, both will promptly appeal to the team to intervene on his behalf.

Squad management and fairness being examined

This comes naturally from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete one another and strive to be as scrupulously fair. Aside from tying some torturous knots in setting precedents about what defines just or unjust – under these conditions, now includes misfortune, strategy and racing incidents like in Marina Bay – there remains the issue regarding opinions.

Most crucially for the championship, with six meetings remaining, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists as fair and at what point their opinion may diverge with that of the McLaren pitwall. Which is when their friendly rapport among them may – finally – turn somewhat into Senna-Prost.

“It will reach a point where minor points count,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then they’ll start to calculate and back-calculate and I suppose the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it begins to get interesting.”

Viewer desires and championship implications

For the audience, during this dual battle, increased excitement will likely be appreciated as a track duel instead of a data-driven decision of circumstances. Especially since for F1 the other impression from all this isn't very inspiring.

To be fair, McLaren is taking the correct decisions for themselves and it has paid off. They secured their 10th constructors’ title at Marina Bay (albeit a brilliant success overshadowed by the fuss prompted by the Norris-Piastri moment) and in Andrea Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and principled leader who genuinely wants to act correctly.

Sporting integrity against squad control

However, with racers in a championship fight looking to the pitwall for resolutions appears unsightly. Their competition should be decided through racing. Chance and fate will have roles, but better to let them just battle freely and see how fortune falls, than the impression that every disputed moment will be pored over by the squad to determine if intervention is needed and then cleared up 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 delayed stop and Piastri believing he was treated unfairly regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris triumphed, the spectre of a fear about bias also looms.

Squad viewpoint and future challenges

Nobody desires to see a title constantly disputed because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. Questioned whether he believed the squad had managed to do right toward both racers, Piastri said that they did, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.

“There’s been some challenging moments and we discussed various aspects,” he stated post-race. “However finally it’s a learning process with the whole team.”

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