Lando Norris has dampened complaints from his McLaren team over RB poaching the fastest lap in the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix to help parent team Red Bull.
McLaren controlled proceedings throughout last weekend through Norris as he converted pole position into a cruising 20-second win over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The Briton’s latest F1 triumph saw him reduce Verstappen’s championship lead to 52 points, but he missed out on an additional point as he lost the fastest lap bonus.
Norris was poised to register a maiden grand slam until RB boxed Daniel Ricciardo onto new Softs in the closing stages and the Australian usurped his ex-team-mate.
However, Ricciardo’s new track record boosting Verstappen’s title prospects has brought into the spotlight once again the shared ownership between Red Bull and RB.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown reiterated his stance that such a model shouldn’t be allowed, while team boss Andrea Stella stated that F1 is not a “coalition championship”.
READ MORE: McLaren: F1 not a ‘coalition championship’ as RB help Red Bull in Singapore GP
Norris, though, was reluctant to weigh in on the contentious matter, instead citing that he was powerless to respond to Ricciardo’s time on his degrading Hard rubber.
“Well done, Daniel,” Norris remarked. “I don’t know. Nothing I can do is good on him.
“Yeah, I did my best at trying to get a quicker lap when the tyres were in a good condition in the middle. But I can’t have them all, you know.
“I’ve done my best at trying to get quicker laps over the last few weekends and I’ve been able to get them more often than not.
“But I can’t, on a Hard tyre in the middle of a stint, beat a guy on a new soft. So, yeah, that’s just life.”
Norris labels RB’s decision ‘smart’
Norris has admitted that Red Bull’s possible involvement in RB using Ricciardo being outside the points to stop McLaren from landing an additional point was “smart”.
“That’s how it’s been in Formula 1 for, I don’t know, probably since before I was born, so… Nothing to complain about,” he repeated.
“There’s been races in the past when other people have been racing. We try to take it away from others.
“So, yes, the logical thing to do. The smart play by them. Happy for Daniel. That’s all.”
However, Red Bull boss Christian Horner indicated that RB made the choice without outside influence amid rumours the Singapore GP was Ricciardo’s final race in F1.
“Well, look, Daniel, he obviously wanted to finish the race on a high, so, you know, you’ll have to go and ask VCARB about that one,” Horner addressed.
