Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has branded Red Bull’s protest at the Canadian Grand Prix “petty” and “embarrassing”, but his counterpart Christian Horner insists his team have “no regrets”.
Red Bull challenged George Russell’s win in Montreal on Sunday, alleging he had broken regulations for both driving erratically and committing unsportsmanlike conduct behind the Safety Ca ahead of Max Verstappen, which was later thrown out by the stewards.
Earlier this season, Red Bull launched a protest against Russell in Miami after the Brit had finished a place ahead of Verstappen in third at the Miami Grand Prix. The allegation that Russell had failed to sufficiently slow under yellow flags was dismissed.
“First of all, 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,” Wolff told Sky Sports in New York at the launch of the new F1 movie.
“They’ve done it in Miami. Now they launched two protests. They took one back because it was ridiculous.
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Sky Sports’ Craig Slater spoke to Toto Wolff, Christian Horner, George Russell and more at the premiere of the F1 movie in New York
“They come up with some weird clauses, what they call clauses. I guess the FIA needs to look at that because it’s so farfetched it was rejected.
“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.”
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Red Bull launched a protest after the Canadian GP claiming George Russell allegedly drove erratically in front of Max Verstappen behind the Safety Car
Russell’s victory in Montreal was Mercedes’ first of the season and he was joined on the podium by team-mate Kimi Antonello, who finished third behind Verstappen.
Asked if Red Bull’s protests should have been dismissed quicker, Wolff added: “One of them they actually pulled as a protest, they didn’t even follow it through because it was nonsense.
“The second one took us five hours because I don’t even know what you refer to as ‘unsportsmanlike behaviour’ or something. What is it all about? Who decides it? Because I’m 100 per cent sure it’s not Max, he’s a racer.
“He would never go for a protest on such a trivial thing.”
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Highlights of the Canadian Grand Prix from the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal
The protest was the latest twist in a contentious series of events involving Verstappen and Russell.
The Red Bull driver was penalised for causing a collision with Russell at the previous round of the 2025 season in Spain, with the incident earning Verstappen three penalty points that left him on the brink of a race ban in Canada, and will continue to do at the next round in Austria before some points drop off licence.
After beating Verstappen to pole on Saturday in Montreal, Russell suggested he had an advantage over his rival due to the penalty points situation.
Verstappen said he was “pi**ed off” at “childish” comments on his situation shortly after in a post-qualifying press conference.
The pair also engaged in an extraordinary war of words at last year’s season finale after Verstappen was penalised for an incident involving Russell at the preceding round in Qatar.
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Max Verstappen was quick to shut down a question asked to him about his penalty points this season
Horner: Red Bull have no regrets
Also speaking to Sky Sports in New York, Red Bull’s Horner insisted they have “no regrets” about their actions.
“No, absolutely not [no regrets. I mean, it’s a team’s right to do so. You know, we saw something we didn’t think was quite right.
“You have the ability to put it in front of the stewards and so that’s what we chose to do. Absolutely no regrets in that.”
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George Russell, Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli reacted to Norris’ crash after a battle with his team-mate Piastri
Verstappen closed his deficit to championship leader Oscar Piastri to 43 points after the Australian finished fourth at the Canadian Grand Prix, having been ran into the back of Lando Norris in the closing stages.
Horner says there is a “long way to go yet” and has not ruled out Verstappen’s chances in the Drivers’ Championship.
“We’re not even halfway. We had a good weekend in Barcelona. We won obviously in Imola a few races ago, and as Sunday proved, anything can happen,” he said.
“You have just got to hang in there. It’s a long championship. We don’t give up on anything, keep fighting till the very end. If one person’s going to do that, it’s definitely going to be Max.”
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Asked about the incidents in Montreal, Russell told Sky Sports: “I think even Max didn’t know there was a protest even going on. So I don’t know what was going on, what they were thinking.
“I’m glad nothing happened one way or another. It was just a bit of a waste of everybody’s time. And two guys who work for the team, they both missed their flights last night and everything.
“It was just a bit of a faff for everybody. But that’s over now, eyes forward. I feel I’m performing really well. I feel good with the team. Who knows what’s going to happen, the margins are so close right now.”
On Russell’s current contract situation, Wolff said: “Don’t spoil the evening where we’re watching the movie! It’s all on plan.”
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Mercedes’ George Russell and Kimi Antonelli reflect on their first and third place finishes respectively
Horner: Red Bull warned FIA about ‘gamesmanship’
Verstappen came into the weekend amid scrutiny over the threat of a race ban as he was on 11 penalty points. One more penalty point before June 30 would result in a race suspension, which means he must get through the next F1 race in Austria cleanly.
Russell made reference to the penalty points, which Horner says led to Red Bull warning the FIA about goading from their rivals.
“I think you could hear from George’s press comments on Saturday, his objective was reasonably clear. I don’t think there was any surprises with that,” he said.
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“I think that it’s inevitable that there was going to be some potential gamesmanship. It’s something that we raised after the drivers’ briefing with the race director, just so that they were mindful of it as well because it’s clear that kind of stuff goes on.
“But Max, I thought he’s been squeaky clean all weekend and drove a very good race. We just said to him [the race director] could they please keep an eye on it because, there’s been, obviously, comments that have been raised in the media, just please keep an eye on it.”
Next up for the 2025 Formula 1 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 from June 27-29. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.
