After Singapore, McLaren accused Red Bull of using Daniel Ricciardo to take the fastest lap point away from Lando Norris.
The connection between Red Bull and RB has existed for years. The sister team was previously known as Torro Rosso and then Alpha Tauri. Then it was rebranded to Visa Cash App RB for the 2024 season.
VCARB or RB has historically been used by Red Bull to test out their junior drivers before moving them up. Many of Red Bull’s drivers have gone through their sister team, such as; Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kyvat and Max Verstappen.
However, in Singapore, RB was accused of more than just housing Red Bull’s junior drivers.
With the 2024 championship still up in the air, Lando Norris needs every point he can get over Max Verstappen to keep the fight alive. For Norris to challenge for the title he needed to be winning the race with the fastest lap if Verstappen was finishing second.
For Singapore, he was on track to achieve just that, as well as his first grand slam. Until Daniel Ricciardo was called into the pits for the third time in a typically one-stop race. He came out on softs and did the fastest lap, taking the vital point from Norris.
Singapore leaves Norris 52 points behind Verstappen with six races to go. If Verstappen finishes behind Norris in every race, regardless of the fastest lap, he’ll win the championship.
McLaren found the move ‘peculiar’
The call to bring Ricciardo in confused McLaren. Andrea Stella, team principal, and Zak Brown, CEO, questioned whether the decision was made in good faith. Stella was hesitant to blatantly blame Red Bull for the choice to pit Ricciardo. However, he was quick to point out how it was ‘peculiar’.
Andrea Stella told Motorsport.com:
“I don’t know the facts. I just saw that RB went for the fastest lap, and they achieved it. But for me here to talk about sportsmanship and so on, I think… it would be out of place. So I think we have to take it at face value.”
“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.”
“This definitely needs to be addressed. But at no point, do I have elements now to say RB went for the fastest lap to support the Red Bull. I just find it a little… how to say… peculiar. I did not see it coming.”
Zak Brown echoed the team principal’s thoughts. Brown took a pragmatic stance on the situation, telling SiriusXM, “That’s not the first time we’ve seen it, probably won’t be the last.”
Brown admitted he would like to ask questions regarding the situation. Telling media, “It’s something I’ve spoken about in the past and I think it illustrates that it does happen because I think you wouldn’t have made that pit stop to go for that.
“It’s not going to get anyone a point, so I think it does illustrate the issue around that topic.”
The other side of the coin
The entire situation took a very different turn after the race. Across the entire weekend rumours of Ricciardo being replaced were swirling with the Aussie driver not denying the possibility. Singapore may be his final race in F1.
Lauren Miekes, the RB team principal, explained that it wasn’t planned to steal a point from McLaren. Instead, it was a way to give Ricciardo a better send-off than a pointless race finish.
He told PlanetF1, “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.” It is not yet confirmed that Ricciardo will be replaced but after interviews, it seems more likely that the Aussie will not be present for COTA.
Regardless of the reasoning behind the pit stop, Ricciardo joked in his Sky post-race interview, “Part of me is hoping Max wins by one point. Because I think I guaranteed myself a nice Christmas present if so.”
Featured Image Credit: Steven Tee/LAT Images