Why Daniel Ricciardo's Fastest Lap at F1 Singapore Ruffled Some Feathers

The Singapore Grand Prix was a fairly sedate encounter, as the 62-lap race ran green, the first time in the event’s 15-year history that it has run caution-free.

After the first lap, Lando Norris’ victory was never really in doubt—even if he was a little flirtatious with a couple of barriers—while Max Verstappen’s runner-up spot was also untroubled.

The biggest controversy surrounded the fastest lap.

One point is awarded to the driver who held the fastest lap and in the closing stages it was leader Norris who held the honor. But RB pitted Daniel Ricciardo, who was out of the points, and on fresh tires he duly took the fastest lap. Because he finished outside of the top 10 Ricciardo did not receive a point but consequently neither did Norris, ensuring he cut Verstappen’s title advantage to 52 points rather than 51.

RB claimed that the team wanted to give Ricciardo a valiant send-off, amid the widespread expectation that Singapore was his last race, while Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner insisted there was no collaboration between the teams. Sergio Perez, running 10th in the closing stages, also revealed he had had discussions with Red Bull over pitting for fastest lap—as he would have lost one point but also denied Norris (and McLaren) the point—though ultimately stayed out.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted he was “a little surprise that the highest priority of racing [for RB] was to go and score fastest lap, though diplomatically added: “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.”

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has previously spoken out about the complexity of two-team ownership in Formula 1, and its pitfalls, and Stella—who had been briefed before his media session—acknowledged the issues.

“Look, this is a big matter,” he said. “As soon as you invoke the [issue of] sportsmanship, I think you need to approach this with a sense of responsibility that I want to have. I don't know the facts, I just saw that Racing Bulls 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 track side 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 I have elements now to say Racing Bulls (RB) went for the fastest lap to support Red Bull. I just find it a little, how to say, peculiar.”

Stella also added “I think we just have to work hard to make sure that this [title fight] doesn't come down to a point.”