McLaren want Red Bull-RB relationship addressed after “peculiar” fastest lap

McLaren take aim at "peculiar" fastest lap effort and call for Red ♎Bull-RB relationsh♊ip to be "addressed".

McLaren's Andrea Stella and drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
McLaren's Andrea Stella and drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

McLaren have called for the relationship between Red Bull and RB to be “addressed” after168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Daniel Ricciardo denied 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lando Norris the fastest lap point at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix.

Having set the fastest lap on Lap 48, Norris had been on course to take eight points out of168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Max Verstappen's championship le♌ad on his way to winning Sunday’s race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit ahead of the Red Bull driv꧟er.

Red Bull's sister team RB decided to pit Ricciardo late on for fresh soft tyres and the Australian went on to claim the fastest lap on the final lap. While Ricciardo was not eligible to score a point due to running outside the topဣ-10, he snatched the point off Norris and McLaren, aiding Verstappen and Red Bull’s title bids.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella described the decision as “peculiar”, though he ad🐼mitted he could not prove the intention behind the fastest lap effort.

“This is a big mꦅatter. 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.

"I don'ඣt know the facts, I just saw that R✨acing 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. I did not 🙈see it coming.

“I was a little 𝔍surprised thꩲat 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 Dan🔯iel that I'm just happy that he may add this fastest🌃 lap to his track record.”

Daniel Ricciardo snatched the fastest lap right at the death
Daniel Ricciardo snatched the fastest lap right at the death

Norris has a 52-point gap to Verstappen with six races remaining, wh🐠ile McLaren h💟old a 41-point lead over Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, who has previously argued that♔ F1 shouldn’t allow teams to have a shared owner, said he☂ will again raise questions over ‘B-teams’.

“That’s a nice A/B-team sporting thing that I didn’t think was allowed,” Brown told SiriusXM. “But th🐻at’s not the first time we’ve seen it, probably won’t be the last.

“It’s something I’ve spoken about in the past and I think it illusℱtrates that it does happen, because I think you wouldn’t have made that 🅠pit stop to go for that.

“It’s not going t✤o get anyone a point, so I think it does illustrate the issue around that topic.”

T❀he fastest lap has been viewed as Ric♔ciardo’s final act in F1, with the Australian tipped to be replaced before next month’s United States Grand Prix by Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson.

RB boss Laurent Mekies admitted Singapore “ma𒉰y have been Daniel’s last race” and said the team “wanted to give him the chaꦉnce to savour it and go out with the fastest lap”.

Ricciardo, who was dropped by McLaren at the end of 2022, joked🦩 he expects a Christmas present from Red Bull.

“Part of me is – I don’t mean this agains𒈔t Lando – but par🀅t of me is hoping Max wins by one point, because I think I guaranteed myself a really nice Christmas present if so,” he told Sky Sports F1. 

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