Daniel Ricciardo's possible last act in F1 does Max Verstappen's title bid a huge favour

Daniel Ricciardo stole the extra point Lando Norris was set to score at the Singapore Grand Prix by recording the fastest lap of the race.

Sunday's race may end up being the Australian driver's last in Formula 1. Red Bull will discuss this week what to do about his VCARB seat and there is a chance Liam Lawson will replace him for the next race at Austin in October.

Ricciardo went out with something of a whimper, qualifying down in 16th and never threatening to reach the points. But with a couple of laps remaining, he was brought into the pits for another tyre change and it was clear was Red Bull's sister team were trying to do.

Norris had the fastest lap up to that point and Max Verstappen behind him did not have the pace to snatch that extra point away from him. So Ricciardo's track position was sacrificed to come to the Dutchman's aid.

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And it worked like a charm for Red Bull. On fresh soft tyres, Ricciardo had the pace to set the fastest lap of the race on his final revolution of the Marina Bay Circuit, and ensured that Norris would score one points fewer.

It could be crucial by the end of the season. The McLaren driver is closing the gap to Verstappen all the time in the drivers' championship and is now 51 points behind with six rounds remaining, but it would have been slightly narrower at 50 points had Ricciardo not set the fastest lap late on.

And it was clear that Verstappen was very grateful for the help provided by his one-time Red Bull Racing team-mate. When he was informed of what had happened over the radio during his cool-down lap, the Dutchman replied: "Thank you, Daniel."

F1 fans took what may be their final opportunity to show their affection to Ricciardo at the end of the race. Even though he hasn't performed particularly well over the course of the weekend, the popular Australian was voted Driver of the Day in the official F1 online poll.

Norris went on to win the race by more than 20 seconds, though Verstappen did better than he expected and managed to hold on to second place. Oscar Piastri secured another double McLaren podium to extend their constructors' championship lead significantly, with Sergio Perez down in 10th in the other Red Bull.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were split by Charles Leclerc who had made up several places after a horrible qualifying result. And there were more points for Nico Hulkenberg and Haas as the German continued his excellent form.