Wolff criticizes Red Bull’s petty « and small » challenge to Russell in Canada

George Russell’s victory at the Canadian Grand Prix led to a protest from Red Bull that left a mark. Two hours after the checkered flag, the Austrian team officially contested the Mercedes driver’s triumph, accusing him of erratic driving behind the safety car and unsportsmanlike behavior. The grievances were ultimately dismissed by the stewards after a thorough review and a five-hour wait. This move caused bewilderment for Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, who described their rival’s initiative as “so petty and small.”

Wolff lambasts Red Bull: Embarrassing and ridiculous

Present in New York for the world premiere of the F1 movie with Brad Pitt, Toto Wolff was uncompromising on Sky Sports. His critique targets both the substance and the form of this protest, which he deemed ill-conceived. “It’s so petty and so small. They did it in Miami and now they’re launching two protests, they withdrew one because it was ridiculous,” criticized Wolff, recalling that Red Bull had already attempted a similar maneuver during the Miami Grand Prix.

For the Mercedes boss, this late protest reveals the dubious nature of Red Bull’s approach: « First, it took Red Bull Racing two hours to file its complaint, so it was entirely of their own making. They pulled out a strange clause from the sporting code. I think the FIA needs to look into this because it was so far-fetched that it was dismissed », he said, implying that a real infraction would have prompted an immediate, not delayed, reaction.

The Viennese also denounced the very spirit of this protest, seeing it as an attack on the fundamental values of motorsport. “We race, we win, and we lose on the track. It was a deserved victory for us, just as they have had many in the past, and it’s just embarrassing,” he asserted.

Troubled by the turn of events, Wolff expressed his bewilderment at Red Bull’s strategy, once again recalling that a claim had been withdrawn prematurely for lack of substance, and that it took five hours to learn the verdict of another for a poorly defined grievance around alleged “unsportsmanlike behavior.” « I don’t even know what that refers to. What exactly is this about? How do you know? Who decides this? », he questioned, perplexed by what he considers unjustified harassment.

In this controversy, the head of Mercedes was keen to spare Max Verstappen, whom he considered unrelated to this initiative. “I am 100% sure it is not Max. He is a true driver. He would never protest about something so trivial,” he specified, implicitly directing his criticism towards the Red Bull management.

Horner stands his ground

Christian Horner, also present at the New York premiere, chose to firmly maintain his position without expressing the slightest regret. The Red Bull director justified his approach by the simple exercise of his team’s legitimate rights.

To the question of whether they regretted taking this initiative, Horner was categorical: « No, absolutely not. It’s a team’s right to do so. We saw something we didn’t think was quite right and you have the opportunity to present it to the stewards. And that’s why we chose to do it, and absolutely no regrets about it », he stated, justifying the approach with observations his team deemed problematic in Russell’s behavior behind the safety car in Canada.

For Nico Rosberg, a consultant for Sky Sports that weekend, Red Bull’s claim was unnecessary, as the stewards do not always make clear-cut decisions but also consider the sport as a whole. The former Mercedes driver believed that it would have been so stupid and unnecessary to change a victory after the fact, as fans worldwide would have been furious. In the eyes of the German driver, the whole affair didn’t really make sense, and Red Bull was wrong to attempt the challenge. It wasn’t right for Red Bull to attempt this protest, he concluded.

In the end, this protest still cost the Milton Keynes team 4000 euros (2000 euros per rejected protest) and five hours of waiting for the parties involved. A high price for an action that only served to heighten tensions between the two rival teams.