McLaren CEO Zak Brown has expressed concerns over Red Bull’s affiliate team, VCARB, questioning their tactics during the recent Singapore GP after Daniel Ricciardo’s late pit stop appeared to deliberately obstruct Lando Norris’ championship efforts. Ricciardo, who pitted for soft tires from 18th place with three laps to go, recorded the fastest lap, denying Norris an extra point that could be crucial in the tight championship race.
Brown has long voiced opposition to multi-team ownership in Formula 1 and views Ricciardo’s move as another instance of unsporting behavior aimed at aiding Red Bull. “That’s a nice A/B-team sporting thing that I didn’t think was allowed,” Brown said to SiriusXM, emphasizing, “But that’s not the first time we’ve seen it, probably won’t be the last.”
Conversely, VCARB team principal Laurent Mekies justified the strategy, citing it as a morale boost for Ricciardo amid rumors of his potential exit from F1. “You have to give credit to the guy. Daniel had a crazy weekend to go through,” Mekies told Motorsport.com. He further explained, “We just thought it was the right thing to do – to give him that chance in the context in which the weekend had been.”
As the debate continues, the incident underscores ongoing concerns about competitive fairness, with Brown pledging to push for tighter regulations against multi-team practices.
