Red Bull have come under fire for protesting the result of the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend. They were hopeful that George Russell would be penalised, handing Max Verstappen victory.
The Bulls accused Russell of unsportsmanslike behaviour during a late safety car period in Montreal. He reported over the radio that Verstappen had overtaken him, a violation of the rules.
The world champion had only passed momentarily, and Red Bull alleged that Russell had deliberately slammed on the brakes to drop behind. This was seen as gamesmanship to land Verstappen in trouble – he’s currently on 11 penalty points, which puts him one away from a race ban.
Russell joked about Verstappen’s predicament after taking pole position, which didn’t go down well in Christian Horner’s team. But Toto Wolff was nonetheless furious about the protest after a five-hour delay in confirming the race result.
Red Bull warned the FIA before the race that rivals could use underhand tactics to try and get Verstappen the extra point. Wolff’s comments afterwards may reignite the hostility between the two teams.
Red Bull mounted ‘hopeless’ George Russell protest to keep Max Verstappen happy
The feeling is that Red Bull are willing to go further than their competitors as part of a win-at-all-costs approach. It’s not the first time they’ve gone down the regulatory route.
Speaking on the Formel Schmidt podcast, Auto Motor und Sport journalist Michael Schmidt suggested this was a deliberate ploy to keep Verstappen happy. They want him to know that they will ‘do anything’ to deliver him the championship.
Red Bull are still wary that he could try and move to Mercedes for 2026. His contract runs until the end of 2028, but an exit clause will become active if he falls outside the top three in the standings.
“Red Bull protested because they’re still afraid that Verstappen might somehow leave next year and maybe go to Mercedes,” Schmidt said.
“For them, Russell’s victory and classy performance were actually perfect, because that strengthened his position at Mercedes, and of course they wanted to show their driver, ‘Hey, we’ll do anything for you, we’ll even hold a protest, no matter how hopeless it is, and stand up for you’.
“I think that definitely plays a role in the end.”
Max Verstappen has already crossed one team off his list for 2026
Mercedes showed the stewards that Verstappen braked just as hard as Russell elsewhere in the safety-car phase. Red Bull may have known their protest was unlikely to succeed, but they saw no downside in trying.
Nico Rosberg noticed that Russell pressed the radio button rapidly when Verstappen crept ahead, strengthening the theory that it was a premeditated action. But the stewards clearly disagreed.
As Schmidt notes, Russell is now set to sign a new contract with Mercedes. And it seems unthinkable that the team would drop a talent like Kimi Antonelli so soon.
Verstappen joining Aston Martin has been ruled out, so Horner should soon be able to relax – unless the rumours spike again in 2026.
