Red Bull fails to penalize Russell, Verstappen just off the podium

Red Bull Racing attempted to reclaim the podium lost by Max Verstappen at the Miami Grand Prix by filing a protest against George Russell. The Austrian team disputed the behavior of the Mercedes driver under the yellow flag, but the stewards ultimately rejected this protest, confirming Russell’s third place ahead of Verstappen.

The complaint concerned Russell’s compliance with Article 26.1 a) of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations regarding speed reduction under a single yellow flag. Red Bull claimed that despite Russell lifting off the accelerator, the British driver had not sufficiently reduced his speed in the affected area.

The commissioners, however, concluded that Russell had reduced his acceleration by about 25%, which resulted in a torque reduction of about 30%. They specified that the speed of Car 63 in the yellow flag zone was considerably slower than normal racing speed, but the absolute speed when crossing the yellow flag zone slightly increased.

Verstappen: A Race Fraught with Obstacles

Starting from pole position, Verstappen had a complicated race, gradually losing positions until finishing fourth. After resisting the McLarens for several laps, he eventually had to concede to the superior pace of the orange cars.

Throughout the race, the Dutch driver had to deal with several technical issues. From the first clashes with Piastri, he informed his team that his car was super slippery to drive, and the situation worsened as the laps went by.

When Norris pressured him for second place, Verstappen noted: « Everything is going all over the place. It’s complete chaos. » Earlier, he had also mentioned that his brakes were « useless », which partly explains why he could not defend his position against the McLarens.

The reigning world champion particularly struggled with managing his tire temperatures: “We overheated the tires a lot, so it was quite difficult out there, and then of course we were also unlucky with the VSC, but that’s also part of racing,” he explained.

Regarding his overall performance, Verstappen acknowledged the difficulties encountered and admitted he didn’t expect much from the race: « I had nothing to lose so I just tried to have a bit of fun at the same time. I said yesterday (Saturday) that I would do my best and I think that’s what we did today, but unfortunately, we just didn’t have the pace. »

An unfortunate timing and a last-minute strategy

The other factor that contributed to Verstappen’s fourth place was obviously the timing of a virtual safety car, which allowed Russell to gain a position during his pit stop. This event frustrated Verstappen, who was then in contention for the podium.

During the final laps, his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase asked him to stay within five seconds of Russell, without explaining why. This instruction suggested that Red Bull was already considering a protest against the Mercedes driver.

Upon arrival, Verstappen had a considerable lag of 39 seconds behind the winner, Oscar Piastri. Asked about this significant gap, the Dutch driver explained that McLaren’s superiority depends on the circuits: “It’s already their strong point for a while, so sometimes, on a circuit where degradation is a bit lower, it might be less noticeable, but on a circuit like this with thermal degradation, it’s obviously more pronounced.”

With this fourth place, Verstappen and Red Bull see McLaren taking a significant lead in the constructors’ championship with 246 points (141-point lead), while Mercedes with 141 points now has a 36-point advantage. In the drivers’ championship, the gap between the four-time world champion and Russell has narrowed to just 6 points for third place.