Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff branded Red Bull’s protest of George Russell’s Canadian Grand Prix victory ’embarrassing’ and said the attempt to overthrow the result was ‘petty’ by their championship rivals.
Five and a half hours after the chequered flag fell in Montreal, the official result was confirmed after Red Bull lodged a protest claiming Russell had driven erratically under the late-race Safety Car.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had already warned the FIA that Russell might employ gamesmanship tactics to taunt Max Verstappen, who is only one penalty point on his superlicence away from earning a one-race ban.
The team felt Russell’s aggressive slowing down and speeding back up went a step too far, with him dropping back further than the 10-car lengths permitted by the regulations. Red Bull also used radio messages sent by Russell when Verstappen overtook him to demonstrate malicious intent.
After examining the video evidence and hearing from both drivers and teams, the FIA threw out the case because they felt Russell had only factually stated what Verstappen did and explained how they apply a degree of tolerance to the 10-car length rule due to the various time deltas.
It was the latest episode in the ongoing drama between the two teams, which has heightened in the last six months following Mercedes’ improvements on track.
Toto Wolff calls Red Bull protest ‘petty’ and felt it was ’embarrassing’
Much of what happened in the aftermath of the Canadian GP can be traced back to Russell’s comments when he bagged pole on Saturday.
When he was asked about starting alongside Verstappen just weeks after their spat in Barcelona, he quipped that he had “more points on his licence to play with” than the Dutchman.
That probably set the tone for Red Bull and is why they felt he did something malicious, even though Russell’s team radio communications clearly show he was reacting to the Safety Car delta time every driver must adhere to for the safety of marshals.
Wolff felt they went into the race with an agenda and found the questioning of Russell’s sportsmanship was a direct attack on his leadership when speaking to Sky Sports F1.
“It took team Red Bull Racing two hours before they launched the protest, so that was in their doing. You know, honestly, it’s so petty and so small,” said Wolff.
“They’ve done it in Miami. Now they launched two protests. They took one back because it was ridiculous. You know, you race, you win and you lose on track. That was a fair victory for us, like so many they had in the past. And it’s just embarrassing.”
Why Red Bull wants to fight Mercedes more than any other rival F1 team
Red Bull’s protest came as a surprise, considering the stewards chose not to investigate either Russell or Verstappen after their comments made over team radio.
That usually means Race Control did not feel it was worth looking at, a fact later confirmed by FIA sporting director and ex-Red Bull man Tim Malyon, but they pressed on anyway.
There have been a few more instances where Red Bull could have protested race results, with Horner notably turning up to press conferences armed with telemetry data to explain Verstappen’s corner after his first corner incident with Oscar Piastri in Saudi Arabia.
It’s natural for Horner to want to defend his driver, but when asked if he would protest the decision by the stewards, he almost always says it’s not worth it. What made the protest against Russell worth their time? The only explanation is that it’s because this was against Mercedes.
It’s well-known that Mercedes is after Verstappen as an option beyond 2026, and what made this particular exchange interesting after Canada was Wolff’s comments on the Dutchman.
Wolff said Verstappen would not race like this, and he’s largely right; the Dutchman is not interested in the politics that glue F1 together. He focuses on the racing rather than the performative aspects, which is why he didn’t press too hard with criticising Russell in the media and even praised his start in Canada.
Horner knows he could potentially lose his star driver to Mercedes, so he’s making it awkward for the squad. This is what rivals do after all, and while they have drawn a line under the 2021 season, it seems the next battle between the pair is over who will secure the services of Verstappen as he chases Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton’s records.
