Lando Norris was denied a point by Daniel Ricciardo in Singapore and trails Max by 52

Denied the fastest lap point in Singapore by Red Bull’s junior team, VCARB, Andrea Stella stopped short of calling the Red Bull teams out on “sportsmanship” but insisted F1 cannot be a “coalition championship”.

Although Lando Norris took a further seven points out of Max Verstappen’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship by winning the Singapore Grand Prix ahead of the Dutchman, it could’ve been eight were it not for a late fastest lap bid by Daniel Ricciardo.

Daniel Ricciardo denied McLaren’s Lando Norris the fastest lap point

The VCARB driver, racing for Red Bull’s junior team, was running last of the 18 runners when he pitted late in the Grand Prix for a new set of soft tyres and went for the fastest lap.

He secured it, clocking a 1:34.486 to beat Norris’ purple time and denying the McLaren driver the point for the fastest lap.

In a championship fight that could go down to the wire, given Verstappen has lost points to Norris four races in a row to have his lead slashed to 52 points, Stella addressed VCARB assisting Red Bull.

“This is a big matter,” he told the media at the Marina Bay circuit. “You know, 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 Racing Bulls [VCARB] went for the fastest lap, and they achieved it. But for me here talk about sportsmanship and so on, I think is… it would be out of place.

“So I think we have to take it at face value. They scored the fastest lap.

“Potentially as part of a longer-term conversation, we need to put the sport in a position in which at any stage – being it trackside or being it factory-side – teams behave in a totally autonomous manner.

“This is a Constructors’ Championship, it’s a Drivers’ Championship. It is not a coalition championship.

“This needs to be definitely be addressed. But at no point I have elements now to say Racing Bulls [VCARB] went for the fastest lap to support the Red Bull. I just find it a little… how to say… peculiar.”

But while Norris didn’t get the fastest lap point, neither did Ricciardo as the rules state a driver has to be inside the top ten to be awarded the point.

The stats, though, will read 17 fastest laps to Ricciardo in his F1 career, the final one – Singapore – coming on what is widely expected to be his last F1 race.

“I did not see it coming,” Stella added. “I was a little surprised that the highest priority of Racing Bulls [VCARB] racing in Singapore was to go and score the fastest lap of the race.

“At the same time, I have so much sympathy, support and friendship with Daniel that I’m just happy that he added this fastest lap to his track record.”

McLaren are determined to ensure that Sunday’s play doesn’t cost Norris the World title.

“I think we just have to work harder to make sure that this [championship] doesn’t come down to a point,” Stella simply stated.