Within Formula One, each team has an equal chance of winning the driver’s or Constructor’s championship. It all comes down to the car and the drivers. However, if teams started actively working together to bring down other teams, it would be a whole different sport. This is an issue that wasn’t really a problem in the past. However, after Daniel Ricciardo’s fastest lap at the Singapore Grand Prix, McLaren has started questioning the relationship between Red Bull and Visa Cash App RB.
Daniel Ricciardo, who was outside of the top 10, so not winning any points even if he got the fastest lap, tried it anyway. He was successful and set the fastest lap in the later part of the race! He didn’t get the point which is normally awarded for it, however, he did take it away from Lando Norris!
Daniel Ricciardo’s Fastest Lap Makes it More Difficult for Lando Norris!
It might seem that it was done intentionally to ruin Lando Norris’ Grand Slam victory. However, VCARB said that it was done to give Daniel Ricciardo a high in what could be his potential last race within Formula One ever. He might have gotten the fastest lap record of the Singapore GP, however, he also made sure that Lando Norris had as few extra points as possible to keep the gap between Max and Lando as big as possible.
Not only was Lando Norris on his way to winning his first-ever Grand Slam title within Formula One. This means winning the race from pole position, leading every lap and setting the fastest lap of the Grand Prix. So by not getting the fastest lap, he didn’t get his Grand Slam title. The point that he missed out on because of Daniel Ricciardo made it so that Max Verstappen can finish one position behind Norris for the rest of the season and still win the driver’s championship!
McLaren wants an investigation into the relationship between RB and VCARB
Each of the teams within Formula One is competing against each other. So it is an equal chance to for all teams to win the driver’s and constructors championships. So if there were two teams owned by one company, the other teams would be at a disadvantage. This is exactly what the McLaren Team principal, Zak Brown, wants to address this relationship between the two teams. Especially with the latest stunt of Daniel Ricciardo actively helping Max Verstappen.
VCARB, previously known as Torro Rosso (Red Bull) was a sister team to the main Red Bull F1 team. It was intended to give rookies a way to get into the sport without replacing their competitive drivers. However, with drivers like Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo being part of their team, this was not the case anymore.