I agree 100%.
RIC was used by Red Bull to steal that point in order to tip the balance in their favour. That one point means that VER can finish second in every coming (sprint)race and still win the WDC. If NOR had gotten that point, he would be WDC no matter what, if he would go on to win every coming (sprint)race, even if VER took 2nd every time.
So it was an important point. NOR needs something extra now to win. It is not only up to him anymore.
Mekies tried to make us believe that they wanted to give RIC a proud farewell, but what they actually did, was to show that RIC and VCARB are still Red Bull’s little bitches. There was no honour in that fastest lap. It was a hand puppet action. RIC’s explanation afterwards said it all with his “early christmas present” story. He never mentioned it being something he wanted or thought worthwhile. He just hoped he would help VER win the WDC. He basically admitted being VER’s joker. Besides that, the simple fact that everybody knew that it would be a controversial action, means that it could never be an honorable farewell. It would be doubted from the moment RIC was boxing. They all knew, and still went ahead. In my opinion it even degraded RIC’s last race. He didn’t deserve to be screwed like that. But that point was too important for Red Bull, so it had to be done.
So yeah, second teams should be illegal.

Race Against The Machine

RB ≠ RBR
As in: Red Bull Racing (RBR) is the team Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are driving for, and then there is their sister-team RB* (RB) with Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo as drivers.
It’s a bit confusing of course, but I’d like to see more people using the abbreviations correctly here on Lemmy.
But renaming Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri into RB was not a clever move by the team.

*edit for more accuracy: RB’s full team name is VISA Cash App Racing Bulls (VCARB), so it’s not surprising people are calling them RB. But that does cause more confusion.

That’s actually a better idea!

Ah thank you, that explains it.

This feels like the most likely explanation to me, it looked like SAI got almost sucked into the inside of PER’s car…

I guess they don’t mind losing their fans…

As if Lando’s task wasn’t big enough already…

Novel scenario looking like a fun possibility: PER running in a position to take points off of VER! Forcing RBR into issuing team orders! :D

I think another factor was both their on-track behaviour, bordering childishly stubborn anger, being overly aggressive. The ‘red mist’ I call it.
That was what turned me off them.

In my opinion, McLaren should have “let them race” up until the summer break. After that, support the driver closest to Verstappen. If something unforeseen happens and the “second” driver gets ahead, then full support to him. Simple and clear. Maximize points for the best positioned driver in the WDC and for the team in the WCC.
I still have hopes for Norris taking the WDC, but it will be a tall order. It might come down to fastest lap points even! But he will have to have full support from the team and Piastri.

I’m just hoping for a bit of competition this season.

Now I’m wondering if that is the most ugly f1 logo I ever saw… Pretty sure it is.