Red Bull lodged protests with the FIA stewards against George Russell’s victory in the Canadian Grand Prix, which were not upheld.

Red Bull and Mercedes headed to see the stewards after the Canadian GP, with the Milton Keynes-based squad lodging protests against Russell’s victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Red Bull lodges protest against George Russell

Hours after the chequered flag, the FIA confirmed protests had been lodged by Red Bull, following Max Verstappen’s second-place finish to George Russell.

The exact details of the protests were not initially confirmed by the FIA, although Red Bull boss Christian Horner revealed what his team had gone to the FIA about shortly after the chequered flag.

Under the Safety Car, Russell braked heavily down the back straight while approaching the chicane, resulting in Verstappen sailing past him on the right-hand side of the track having been caught by surprise by the British driver’s action.

Onboard TV footage suggested Russell had looked in his right rear-view mirror immediately prior to his hard braking.

“It’s relating to the erratic driving behind the Safety Car, where George very heavily braked, obviously looking at his mirror for Max,” he said.

“And the second [protest] is, very clearly, the distance that was left behind the Safety Car that was well in excess.

“I think it was three times in excess of the permitted distance. So it’s within our right to, obviously, protest that. So we’ve lodged the protests, it’s with the stewards now, and we’ll see what they say.”

The protests lodged by Red Bull claimed that Russell had breached Article 55.5 of the Sporting Regulations, pertaining to unnecessarily braking and erratically behind the Safety Car, as well as alleging that Russell had breached Article 12.2.1.m of the International Sporting Code (ISC) by complaining Verstappen had overtaken him under Safety Car conditions, related to unsporting behaviour by way of displaying “unsportsmanlike intent”.

The ISC article outlaws, “Any infringement of the principles of fairness in Competition, behaviour in an unsportsmanlike manner or attempt to influence the result of a Competition in a way that is contrary to sporting ethics.”

Russell immediately flagged over team radio that Verstappen had overtaken him under Safety Car – which is not permitted.

Verstappen and Lambiase also discussed it over team radio, with the Dutch driver saying, “George just suddenly aggressively braked” as Lambiase replied, “We will check for any erratic driving”.

While Horner indicated Red Bull had been intent on protesting on the grounds of Russell exceeding the 10-car length rule which must be maintained as the leader behind the Safety Car, the matter did not make it before the stewards.

FIA reach verdict on Red Bull protests against George Russell

The protest hearing documents were released by the stewards after lengthy deliberations, with the paperwork revealing how the hearing had proceeded.

Red Bull was represented by head of regulations Stephen Knowles, Max Verstappen and race engineer GianPiero Lambiase, while Mercedes sent along head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin with sporting director Ron Meadows to accompany George Russell.

Race director Rui Marques and sporting director Tim Malyon represented the FIA.

Red Bull’s argument was that, during the Safety Car period, Russell unnecessarily braked along the back straight between Turns 12 and 13, causing Verstappen, who was following closely, to unintentionally overtake before dropping back behind once Rusell accelerated again.

Red Bull claimed this prompted Russell to report the overtake over team radio, which they characterised as displaying “unsportsmanlike intent.”

Verstappen explained he was caught off guard by Russell’s sudden braking and had no choice but to pass momentarily.

To support their claims, Red Bull presented telemetry data showing throttle and brake inputs from both cars and pointed to onboard footage that showed Russell’s mirror check before braking—suggesting he was aware of Verstappen’s position and deliberately induced the overtake to cause an infringement.

They further argued that the radio complaint was made strategically, knowing Race Control would hear it, in an attempt to prompt an investigation into Verstappen.

Red Bull also contended that, since it was apparent the race would end under the Safety Car, it was unnecessary for Russell to be managing tyre and brake temperatures, further supporting their claim that the braking was unjustified.

Responding, Mercedes’ defence was kicked off by Russell explaining that periodic braking during Safety Car deployments is standard practice to maintain temperature in the tyres and brakes.

On the back straight, he found himself closing in on the Safety Car and gestured with his hand, as seen in the in-car footage, to signal the driver to speed up.

He stated that he applied the brakes at that point for two reasons: to maintain a safe gap to the Safety Car and to preserve tyre and brake temperatures.

He acknowledged checking his mirrors beforehand and only braked after confirming that Verstappen was positioned to the side, not directly behind.

According to his telemetry, the brake pressure applied was 30 psi, which he argued was not excessive. He further asserted that Verstappen should have expected such braking during a Safety Car period and emphasised that it is not the responsibility of the leading car to monitor the following car.

He also clarified that his radio message regarding the overtake was not meant to trigger an investigation and that he had no certainty the race would end under the Safety Car.

Meadows and Shovlin supported Russell’s account, stating that his team radio message was merely factual and that they did not lodge any complaint with Race Control since Verstappen returned the position.

They also provided telemetry comparing both cars’ braking patterns across multiple laps under the Safety Car, arguing that Verstappen had also braked in similar sections, reinforcing that the actions of Russell were not out of the ordinary.

Malyon responded by saying the incident had been observed by Race Control and had been assessed as not needing to be referred to the stewards and that, due to periodic braking under the Safety Car being typical, some degree of tolerance with respect to the 10-car length rule is acceptable.

The FIA stewards duly rejected Red Bull’s protests as being without foundation, with their explanation being that they were satisfied by Russell’s explanation that his braking location and intensity were not erratic.

His act of reporting Verstappen’s overtake also did not convince the stewards of any unsportsmanlike conduct. and that Russell did not engage in unsportsmanlike conduct through his braking action.

Asked to comment on the incident behind the Safety Car, Verstappen told Sky F1, “I think we were both trying to say to the Safety Car to speed up because he was only going 120 kilometres an hour, but I think maybe the Safety Car was doing that to give a bit more time to maybe get a race start in.

“So then I think George was trying to speed up to the Safety Car. I was trying to do the same. And then, once he tried to speed up the Safety Car, he then backed out, and it just caused a bit of confusion.”

Verstappen headed into the Canadian Grand Prix with 11 penalty points on his FIA Super Licence and, should he pick up a penalty point before the end of the Austrian Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time, he will be handed an automatic race ban.

For Russell, who won the race by less than a second ahead of Verstappen as the Safety Car saw the field home after a late collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, a time penalty could have resulted in him losing his victory if the FIA stewards ruled against him for any reason.

Separately, the two McLaren drivers were summoned to see the stewards after the race following their late-race clash, which resulted in Norris retiring from the Grand Prix. The stewards awarded Norris a five-second time penalty, which has no effect on his 18th-place classified finish.

Read Next: FIA set to take closer look at Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collision as investigation begins