Red Bull fails in attempt to overturn Russell’s victory

Red Bull attempted to have George Russell’s victory at the Canadian Grand Prix annulled two hours after the race ended. The Austrian team filed two protests against the Mercedes driver, accusing him of dangerous driving behind the safety car. After more than five hours of deliberation, the stewards dismissed the accusations.

The incident under the safety car

The incident begins on the 68th lap out of 70, after the collision between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri that had caused the safety car to come out. Russell was leading ahead of Verstappen when the incident occurred on the straight between turns 12 and 13.

Russell had then braked suddenly. Verstappen, who was following closely, was forced to momentarily overtake him before returning to his position. The Dutch driver immediately expressed his dissatisfaction over the radio: « George suddenly braked aggressively. » His engineer Gianpiero Lambiase replied: « Understood, thank you, we will check for any erratic driving. »

On his side, Russell had also protested to his team: « Verstappen just overtook me under the safety car. » A few minutes later, Lambiase informed Verstappen: « This incident with Russell is now broadcast on the screens, Max. It’s quite blatant. Don’t fall into the trap of manipulation, thank you. »

Facing the media after the race, the four-time world champion tried to downplay the events: “I think we were both trying to signal the safety car to speed up because it was only going at 120 km/h […] George was trying to speed up towards the safety car and I was trying to do the same. Once he tried to speed up towards the safety car, he backed off and that caused some confusion.” Despite this attempt at an explanation, his team filed an official protest with the stewards two hours later.

The accusations of Red Bull

Red Bull initially reported two protest issues concerning George Russell: his erratic driving behind the safety car and the excessive gap left behind it.

Christian Horner explained the approach during a press briefing with the written media after the race: “We have filed two protests with the stewards. Firstly, regarding the erratic driving behind the safety car, where George braked very sharply, clearly watching his rearview mirror for Max. Secondly, the gap left behind the safety car was excessively large, I believe at least three times the allowed distance,” stating that it was Red Bull’s right to contest the maneuver, and that the final decision now rested with the stewards.

The Austrian team, however, withdrew the second complaint during the proceeding, as Russell was actually complying with a rule regarding a delta under yellow flag conditions. The final protest was therefore solely about erratic driving under Article 55.5 of the sporting regulations, as well as unsporting behavior under Article 12.2.1.m of the International Sporting Code, for signaling Verstappen’s overtake.

On this second point, Red Bull presented telemetry data and accused Russell of deliberately trying to provoke an infraction from Verstappen to get him penalized and earn additional penalty points on his super license, which could have led to a race suspension. The team argued that the British driver knew the race would end under a safety car, making it unnecessary to maintain tire temperature.

Russell and Mercedes’ defense

Russell provided his version to the commissioners, explaining that periodic braking is common during safety car deployments. « On the straight, I found myself catching up to the safety car. I braked where I did for two reasons. First, to ensure I maintained a gap with the safety car. Secondly, to keep the temperature of my brakes and tires. »

The British driver also indicated that he had looked in his mirrors to check that Verstappen was not directly behind him and only braked after seeing that the Red Bull was at the side. According to telemetry data presented by Mercedes, the braking pressure applied was 30 psi, considered moderate.

Mercedes also provided telemetry data showing that Verstappen himself had braked on the same straight during other laps under the safety car, demonstrating that Russell’s action was not exceptional and that reporting the overtaking was simply a factual observation and not a provocation.

An interminable wait

The hearing before the commissioners had started around 11:50 PM French time, but the decision was not made until 3:05 AM, five and a half hours after the end of the race. It must be said that the commissioners were particularly in demand, with several instances of overtaking under Safety Car involving different drivers. They ultimately dismissed Red Bull’s protest, finding it unfounded. In their decision, they stated: “We accept the explanation of the driver of car 63 regarding the incident and we are convinced that the driver of car 63 did not drive erratically by braking where he did or to the extent that he did.”

They added: « We are not convinced that by simply informing his team that car 1 had overtaken him, he engaged in unsportsmanlike conduct. Although the protest did not allege it, we are also convinced that by braking where and when he did and to the extent he did, the driver of car 63 did not engage in unsportsmanlike conduct. »

Tim Malyon, FIA representative, explained that the incident had been observed by the race control team and assessed as not warranting being reported to the stewards. He specified that periodic braking under the safety car is typical and expected and that race control always allows a degree of tolerance regarding the 10-car length rule, acknowledging that there is a need for a reasonable degree of braking and acceleration.

Red Bull had to pay a fine of 2000 euros for each rejected protest, totaling 4000 euros.

A precedent in Miami

This protest was not Red Bull’s first attempt against Russell this season. In Miami, the Austrian team had already tried to demote him to reclaim the last step of the podium. They had accused the Briton of not slowing down enough under yellow flags. This protest was also rejected, with Russell retaining his third place ahead of Verstappen.

The pressure is palpable at Red Bull. Since his collision with Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen is just one point away from an automatic race suspension. Two of his points will be removed at the end of June, after the race in Austria, but until then, he must avoid any incident.

The relationship between the two drivers also remains tense. Russell suggested on Saturday that he had a psychological advantage over his rival due to this penalty point situation, provoking the anger of the Dutchman who called these comments childish during the post-qualifying press conference.