The British racing team along with Formula One would benefit from anything decisive in the championship battle between Norris and Piastri getting resolved on the track rather than without resorting to team orders as the title run-in begins this weekend at COTA starting Friday.
With the Marina Bay event’s doubtless extensive and stressful post-race analyses dealt with, McLaren will be hoping for a fresh start. Norris was likely fully conscious of the historical context of his riposte to his aggrieved teammate during the previous race weekend. In a fiercely contested championship duel against Piastri, that Norris invoked a famous Senna well-known quotes was lost on no one yet the occurrence that provoked his comment was of an entirely different nature to those that defined Senna's great rivalries.
“Should you criticize me for just going an inside move through an opening then you don't belong in Formula One,” Norris said regarding his first-lap move to overtake which resulted in the cars colliding.
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 Sir Jackie Stewart following his collision with the French champion in Japan back in 1990, ensuring he took the championship.
Although the attitude remains comparable, the wording marks where parallels stop. The late champion confessed he had no intent of letting Prost beat him at turn one while Norris attempted to execute a clean overtake in Singapore. Indeed, it was a perfectly valid effort that went unpenalised even with the glancing blow he had with his McLaren teammate as he went through. That itself was a result of him touching the car driven by Verstappen in front of him.
The Australian responded angrily and, notably, immediately declared that Norris's position gain seemed unjust; suggesting that the two teammates clashing was forbidden under McLaren’s rules of engagement and Norris should be instructed to return the position he gained. The team refused, but it was indicative that in any cases between them, both will promptly appeal the squad to step in in their favor.
This is part and parcel from McLaren's commendable approach to allow their racers compete against each other and strive to maintain strict fairness. Quite apart from creating complex dilemmas when establishing rules over what constitutes fair or unfair – under these conditions, now covers misfortune, strategy and on-track occurrences like in Marina Bay – there is the question of perception.
Of most import to the title race, six races left, Piastri is ahead of Norris by 22 points, each racer's view exists on fairness and when their opinion may diverge from the team's stance. That is when their friendly rapport between the two may – finally – become a little bit more the iconic rivalry.
“It’s going to come to a situation where a few points will matter,” commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after Singapore. “Then calculations will begin and back-calculate and I guess aggression will increase further. That’s when it starts to become thrilling.”
For spectators, during this dual battle, getting interesting will likely be appreciated as a track duel rather than a data-driven decision regarding incidents. Not least because in Formula One the other impression from these events is not particularly rousing.
To be fair, 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 controversy from the Norris-Piastri moment) and with Stella as squad leader they possess a moral and upright commander who truly aims to do the right thing.
However, with racers competing for the title looking to the pitwall to decide matters is unedifying. Their competition ought to be determined on track. Chance and fate will have roles, yet preferable to allow them simply go at it and observe outcomes naturally, rather than the sense that each contentious incident will be pored over by the team to determine if they need to intervene and then cleared up afterwards behind closed doors.
The examination will increase with every occurrence it is in danger of possibly affecting outcomes which might prove decisive. Previously, following the team's decision for position swaps at Monza because Norris had endured a delayed stop and Piastri believing he had been hard done by regarding tactics in Budapest, where Norris won, the shadow of concern about bias also emerges.
Nobody desires to witness a championship endlessly debated because it may be considered that the efforts to be fair were unequal. When asked if he believed the squad had acted correctly by both drivers, Piastri responded he believed they had, but noted that it was an ever-evolving approach.
“We've had several challenging moments and we discussed various aspects,” he said post-race. “But ultimately it's educational for the entire squad.”
Six meetings remain. The team has minimal wriggle room left for last-minute adjustments, so it may be better now to simply close the books and step back from the conflict.
