Andrea Stella called for a review of the relationship between Red Bull and RB at the 2024 Singapore GP after Daniel Ricciardo pitted to take fastest lap away from Lando Norris and McLaren, despite running last at the Marina Bay Circuit.
The Australian did not, and could not, get a point for his Lap 61 effort on the soft tyres but he did take a point away from Norris meaning that Max Verstappen kept the gap to 52 points with six Grand Prix and three Sprint Races to go in 2024.
Any other team and it wouldn’t be controversial, but Red Bull Racing and RB are both owned by the Red Bull GmbH firm meaning there are blurred lines regarding how much collaboration there is between them and how independent RB truly is.
It’s this area and relationship between RB and Red Bull that the McLaren team principal wants cleared up on the grounds of good sportsmanship in the Formula 1 2024 title fight, although he stopped short of making accusations
“This is a big matter,” Stella told media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “As soon as you invoke the 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 RB went for the fastest lap, and they achieved it. But for me to talk about sportsmanship and so on would be out of place. So I think we have to take it at face value.
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“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, trackside or factory-side teams behave in a totally autonomous manner, because this is a constructors’ championship.
“This needs to be definitely addressed. But at no point I have elements now to say RB went for the fastest lap to support the Red Bull. I just find it a little peculiar. I did not see it coming.”
Ricciardo pitted on Lap 60 to take the fastest lap point at the end of the following lap, but when he came into the pit box he was running last of the remaining cars in 18th, after the DNFs of Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen.
He successfully took the fastest lap in what might be his final contribution in F1 and it now means that Verstappen only has to finish second in every remaining event to claim the title, even if Norris wins them all.
McLaren question Red Bull-RB relationship again
The relationship between RB and Red Bull has been questioned previously by rivals competing against the pair, including McLaren themselves, as well as fans and pundits within the sport.
In 2021, there was criticism regarding Verstappen’s overtake on Pierre Gasly at the Qatar GP, which happened just moments after Verstappen reported being “stuck” behind him, as well as Yuki Tsunoda’s aggressive defence of Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Turkish GP.
And McLaren‘s CEO Zak Brown previously questioned the connection in December 2023 after Red Bull announced RB would fall more in line with the former’s aerodynamic philosophy.
“We have some big concerns over the alliance between AlphaTauri (now RB) and Red Bull,” Brown told Motorsport.com. “I think that is something that needs to be addressed in the future.
“So, I still think the sport has a way to go to make sure that everyone is truly independent. It is two teams with common ownership, which you wouldn’t have in other sports. [It could benefit] a lot of different ways.
“There is a reason why they are moving a lot of their people from Italy. As Helmut [Marko] has said, they are going to do absolutely everything they can to benefit from having two teams.
“I get that because that’s what the rules say. But I think we need to look at the governance of the sport around technical alliances.”
