RB has rubbished conspiracies that its choice to let Daniel Ricciardo snatch quickest lap from Lando Norris at Method 1’s Singapore Grand Prix was about serving to sister staff Crimson Bull.
A late name to tug Daniel Ricciardo in for smooth tyres so he might gun for quickest lap induced controversy after Sunday’s race due to the potential implications it might have for the championship.
For with RB gaining nothing from the transfer, as you have to end within the prime 10 to earn the quickest lap level, the tactic was considered by many as a spoiler to grab the bonus from Lando Norris, who’s the primary title rival of sister staff Crimson Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Norris’s McLaren staff boss Andrea Stella mentioned he didn’t want to imagine that there was a hyperlink between RB’s actions and Crimson Bull’s title hopes, however did acknowledge that the transfer was uncommon.
“At no level I’ve parts now to say RB went for the quickest lap to help the Crimson Bull. I simply discover it a bit of… say… peculiar,” he mentioned. “I didn’t see it coming.
“I used to be a bit of shocked that the very best precedence of RB racing in Singapore was to go and rating the quickest lap of the race. I believe we simply need to work tougher to guarantee that this [championship] would not come down to some extent.”
Laurent Mekies, Group Principal, RB F1 Group
Picture by: Alexander Trienitz
RB staff principal Laurent Mekies has opened up on the pondering behind the quickest lap name – and defined the way it really all revolved across the circumstances of Ricciardo’s race weekend.
With the Australian driver anticipated to search out out earlier than the US Grand Prix that he’s being changed by Liam Lawson for the remainder of the season, Mekies mentioned that RB wished to supply him some private reward for his dignity and professionalism to the top.
Talking completely to Motorsport.com, he mentioned: “You must give credit score to the man. Daniel had a loopy weekend to undergo.
“I do not suppose I noticed him as soon as in any second of the race weekend shedding one ounce of professionalism in or out of the automotive. Regardless that the stress was changing into greater and better and better.
“The man does all of the [Singapore] race on the again, preventing each lap, placing some good laps in, and is unable to move.
“We simply thought it was the appropriate factor to do – to present him that probability within the context wherein the weekend had been.”
Requested what his reply was to the conspiracy theorists, Mekies mentioned: “It is so simple as giving the man an opportunity in what has been a loopy weekend.
“It is like: give him a break, give him an opportunity to publish lap and end this weekend on a excessive.”
Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Group VCARB 01
Picture by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Photos
Mekies denied there had been any dialog with Crimson Bull over the quickest lap tactic.
This declare appears to be additional backed up sources claiming there have been radio conversations on the Crimson Bull pit wall debating about whether or not to pit Sergio Perez from tenth place to steal the quickest lap earlier than it was agreed to abort the transfer as a result of Ricciardo had stopped within the meantime.
Mekies was additionally clear that the thought had not even come up in its personal technique conversations earlier than the race.“In fact, not,” he defined.
“You all the time hope that you should have a well-timed security automotive and you can be again in rivalry, in any other case you do not go racing. In order that’s why we began on the smooth, really.
“This was not one thing that you just plan originally of the race. It is simply after how robust a race it was, and the way meaningless it had turn out to be for him to struggle on the again like that, we simply felt it was the appropriate factor.”
Ricciardo himself mentioned he felt that RB giving him the provide of going for quickest lap was about giving him one thing to goal for – though he’s properly conscious he could properly have helped Verstappen.
“I had an thought, however I additionally thought they have been simply letting me have some enjoyable as a result of we have been clearly a good distance out of the factors,” mentioned the Australian.
“So then yeah, on the finish, the quickest lap. I am sort of hoping Max wins by a degree now, as a result of I assured myself a really good Christmas current in that case. So sorry Lando! However I believe I would get Christmas current!
“I heard one thing a couple of $3.5 million bonus for quickest lap or one thing. Crimson Bull was throwing some loopy quantity round!”
