"Kym's talking out of his a**e": Former Red Bull man refutes F1 insider's claims that Horner told Daniel Ricciardo to pit for fastest lap in Singapore

Former Red Bull engineer, Dan Drury, called out F1 insider and photographer, Kym Illman's claim that Christian Horner asked Daniel Ricciardo to set the fastest lap of the Singapore GP to help Max Verstappen.

Speculations were flying around that the race at Marina Bay could be Ricciardo's last as Red Bull has decided to remove him from their B team, Visa CashApp RB. Meanwhile, their star driver, Max Verstappen, has been in a title battle with McLaren's Lando Norris. The championship fight is so close that every point counts.

Though Verstappen was nowhere near a race win in Singapore, Ricciardo indirectly helped him by taking away one point from Norris, setting the fastest lap. As of now, there has been no news of whether Ricciardo will continue with or leave RB.

Speaking on his official YouTube channel about Ricciardo, Illman mentioned how Ricciardo took the race's fastest lap at the request of Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner.

"It's worth noting too that Daniel set the fastest lap. Why? Well because Christian Horner asked him to do it for Max Verstappen's sake and Max is a good friend of Daniel's," Illman claimed.

Responding to this, Drury wrote on his official Threads account that the photographer's claim of Horner asking Ricciardo to set the fastest lap to help Verstappen was completely untrue.

He pointed out that there was no radio communication between Red Bull and their B team during the race. He also added that the teams did not have an unofficial radio link since they are officially set by the communications and intercom company, Riedel.

"Kym is talking out of his a**e. No radio connection between teams and no, they didn't put one in because it's all managed by Riedel"

---

Christian Horner claimed that Daniel Ricciardo's fastest lap at Singapore had no connection to Verstappen's title fight with McLaren

Red Bull's team boss Christian Horner claimed that Daniel Ricciardo's fastest lap of the Singapore GP was a simple highlight and had no connection to Red Bull and Max Verstappen's fight with McLaren and Lando Norris.

Speaking to SiriusXM, Horner plainly explained how RB pitted Ricciardo in the end for fresh tires to bag the fastest lap and claimed that there was no hidden plan behind it. He then claimed that even Haas' Kevin Magnussen could have taken the fastest lap as he had a faster Ferrari engine on his car.

“Racing Bulls [RB] stopped and did the fastest lap at the end of the race. There’s nothing more to it than that. Kevin Magnussen would have had it had he not gone wide earlier in the race and he has a Ferrari engine. Every team has its own independence,” Horner said, via RacingNews365.

As of now, Red Bull is behind McLaren in the constructors' championship by 41 points. In the drivers' standing, Max Verstappen leads with 331 points but is chased by second-placed Lando Norris with 279 points.