McLaren's Zak Brown questions fastest lap controversy at Singapore GP

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

SINGAPORE -- McLaren CEO Zak Brown has expressed his intent to "ask questions" following suspicions that Red Bull's two teams collaborated to snatch the fastest lap point away from Lando Norris during the Singapore Grand Prix.

Norris, battling for the championship against Red Bull's Max Verstappen, was poised to claim the bonus point for the fastest lap in Sunday's race. However, RB's Daniel Ricciardo pitted for fresh tires and set the fastest lap on the final circuit. Although Ricciardo was running in 18th place and outside the top ten, making the bonus point ineligible for him, his lap time effectively denied Norris the point.

The incident has raised eyebrows considering both Red Bull Racing and RB are owned by the same parent company, Red Bull. Brown has previously voiced concerns over potential collaboration between the two teams.

"That's a nice A / B team sporting thing that I didn't think was allowed," Brown commented on Sirius XM regarding Ricciardo's fastest lap. "But hey, that's not the first time we've seen it, probably won't be the last."

When asked if he plans to follow up on the matter, the McLaren CEO confirmed: "I'll certainly ask some questions. 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."

On Sunday evening, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner denied any intentional collaboration to thwart Norris's effort. RB team principal Laurent Mekies explained that the decision to pit Ricciardo was influenced by the possibility that he could be replaced by Liam Lawson for the next round in Austin, Texas.

"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," Mekies said.

As the controversy continues to brew, it remains to be seen whether the FIA will look into the specifics of the situation.

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