Lando Norris was on course to gain an extra point for setting the fastest lap of the race in the Singapore GP; Daniel Ricciardo, who drives for Red Bull's junior team RB, denied Norris by setting the fastest lap despite not being eligible to claim the extra point himself
Monday 23 September 2024 08:57, UK
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Red Bull's relationship with junior team RB "needs to be addressed" after Daniel Ricciardo denied Lando Norris an extra point for the fastest lap of the race at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris reduced Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship to 52 points by winning in Singapore, but the margin looked set to be one less when the Brit held the fastest lap going into the final stages of the race.
RB driver Ricciardo finished last on track in 18th and was therefore not eligible to claim the point awarded for the fastest lap, but stopped for a new set of tyres to better his former team-mate's effort on his penultimate circuit.
Stella said he didn't have the "elements" to prove Ricciardo's effort was motivated by a desire to aid Verstappen's title bid, but said the relationship between Red Bull and RB was a "longer-term" issue.
"As soon as you invoke the sportsmanship, I think you need to approach this with a sense of responsibility that I want to have," Stella said.
"I don't know the facts, I just saw that Racing Bulls went for the fastest lap and they achieved it. But for me, talk about sportsmanship and so on, I think it would be out of place. I think we have to take it at face value that they scored the fastest lap.
"And potentially as part of a longer-term conversation, we need to put the sport in a position in which, at any stage - being it trackside or being it factory side - teams behave in a totally autonomous manner. Because this is a Constructors' Championship, a Drivers' Championship, it's not a coalition championship. Therefore, this needs to be definitely addressed.
"But at no point do I have elements now to say Racing Bulls went for the fastest lap to support Red Bull, I just find it a little peculiar."
The incident occurred in what many expect to be Ricciardo's final F1 race, with the Australian expected to lose his seat to Liam Lawson before next month's United States Grand Prix.
Ricciardo spent two seasons working alongside Stella as Norris' team-mate at McLaren before being dropped by the team at the end of 2022, but has failed to re-establish himself since returning with RB midway through 2023.
Stella added: "I did not see it coming. I was a little surprised that the highest priority of Racing Bull's racing in Singapore was to go and score the fastest lap of the race.
"At the same time, I have so much sympathy, support and friendship with Daniel that I'm just happy that he may add this fastest lap to his track record."
Ricciardo explained that the idea to go for the fastest lap came from his race engineer Pierre Hamelin.
He told Sky Sports F1: "The last few laps, Pierre asked (if) we should go for the fastest lap. I thought, why not?
Verstappen maintains a significant advantage over Norris at the top of the standings, but McLaren's impressive form and Red Bull's struggles suggest the battle could go down to the wire with six rounds of the season remaining.
Ricciardo added: "I don't mean this against Lando, but part of me is hoping Max wins by one point because I think I guaranteed myself a nice Christmas present, if so.
"I think, obviously, it's with a little bit of Red Bull in mind, but maybe just to have one last crack at doing a fast one, if it is to be it."
In the team's press release following the race, RB team principal Laurent Mekies said: "Given this may have been Daniel's last race, we wanted to give him the chance to savour it and go out with the fastest lap."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: "Daniel, he obviously wanted to finish the race on a high. So you'd have to go and ask RB about that one."
Norris, who claimed the third victory of his season and career, said he had "nothing to complain about".
Asked whether Ricciardo setting the fastest lap with nothing to gain from it was unfair, Norris said: "That's how it's been in Formula 1 for, I don't know, probably since before I was born, so... Nothing to complain about.
"There's been races in the past when other people have been racing. We try to take it away from others.
"So, yes, the logical thing to do. The smart play by them. Happy for Daniel. That's all."
Verstappen, who was also team-mates with Ricciardo - at Red Bull from 2016 to 2018, said it was down to each driver to decide their own actions.
"I mean, everyone can decide when they want to do a fast slap or not," Verstappen said.
It remains to be seen whether the incident will ultimately prove significant, but Stella's conclusion was that it is down to McLaren to ensure it doesn't.
He said: "I think we just have to work harder to make sure that it doesn't come down to a point."
Just six races remain in Formula 1 2024 and the season resumes with the United States Grand Prix in Austin from October 18-20, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
