Marc Priestley says Singapore Grand Prix result might force FIA to close F1 rule loophole

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Lando Norris dominated proceedings at the Singapore Grand Prix as he took his third victory of the season around the streets of Marina Bay.

The Brit took advantage of his McLaren’s pace to win the race by the second longest margin of the season.

Max Verstappen did all he could to finish second place, crossing the line 20.9 seconds behind Norris as Red Bull struggle to find an answer to the surging McLaren.

The Dutchman’s lead has been cut down to just 52 points with six races to go, with the Milton Keynes-based squad coming under increasing pressure to defend both titles.

Red Bull need to upgrade their car if they want to challenge McLaren for the last few races of the season, as they fall 41 points behind the Woking outfit after the Singapore Grand Prix and are vulnerable to attack from Ferrari, who sit just 34 points behind in third.

Daniel Ricciardo’s fastest lap in Singapore may force the FIA to make a rule change

Despite being dominated by McLaren once again, Red Bull were able to secure the fastest lap from Norris in Singapore – but it was not from the main team.

In what is being widely regarded to be his final race in Formula 1, Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo snatched the fastest lap in the closing stages of the race.

This denied Norris from achieving the first ‘grand slam’ in F1 since Mika Hakkinen in 1998 at Monaco, whilst also taking away another point from his charge towards the title.

Ricciardo’s fastest lap has come under controversy following the race. With RB being Red Bull ‘junior team’, many have argued that the call to pit the Aussie to achieve the fastest lap is advantageous to Red Bull and goes against ethically what the sport should be.

And speaking on his YouTube channel, Marc Priestley wondered if the situation may force the FIA to change the rules in regards to teams helping each other to benefit another.

“If Red Bull are calling the strategy at RB, you could argue that’s kind of pushing the boundaries and that is really exploiting to the limit, maybe beyond, from an ethical standpoint, of what we want the sport to be,” he said.

“And many people by the way are arguing exactly that from this weekend. But for me, the regulations allow this to happen, so why would you not do it?

“If you want to be angry as I said, be angry at the rule makers, and it may well be this triggers another look at the rules, that we start to close up loopholes, in the same way we are going to do with the technical regulations.”

Max Verstappen can finish second in every remaining race to win the championship

With Ricciardo grabbing the fastest lap from Norris in Singapore, Verstappen can now finish second in every race for the remainder of the season, regardless of the bonus point from the fastest lap, and claim his fourth consecutive title.

But with McLaren’s new-found performance – as seen with Norris’ dominance in Marina Bay – and even with Ferrari and Mercedes showing they are on level with or even ahead of Red Bull, the Dutchman will be under huge pressure to achieve that feat.

Singapore was Verstappen’s best result in five races, with the 26-year-old still winless since Spain and without a pole position since Austria.

Since the race in Spielberg, Norris has grabbed four pole positions – converting two of them to victory – and three fastest laps, while Verstappen has finished on the podium twice. With six races to go and McLaren’s advantage over the field, it could be argued that it is doubtful that the Dutchman will finish even second in the remaining events.