Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has expressed his displeasure over Red Bull’s protest following the Canadian Grand Prix. The Austrian racing team accused George Russell of ‘unsportsmanlike behaviour’, alleging that he deliberately braked to provoke a penalty for Max Verstappen. Wolff labels the complaint from the rival team as ‘petty’ and ‘insignificant’, interestingly enough, sparing Verstappen himself from criticism.
George Russell had a relatively untroubled drive to victory in the Canadian Grand Prix, but caused a stir in the closing stages. The Mercedes driver is alleged to have deliberately braked, according to Red Bull, to provoke a penalty for Max Verstappen, who was following him. Due to the late safety car, the entire field was bunched up at that point, and Verstappen momentarily came alongside the race leader. However, Red Bull did not take kindly to Russell’s action and lodged a protest with the FIA after the race. The governing body, however, dismissed the complaint.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is not pleased with the protest from the rival team. “Firstly, it took Red Bull two hours to lodge the protest, that was their own fault,” the Austrian responded during the F1: The Movie premiere in New York. “It’s frankly so petty and insignificant. They did the same thing in Miami. Now they’ve lodged a second protest. They’ve already withdrawn one because it was ridiculous.”
Embarrassing
This is not the first time Red Bull has lodged a protest against Russell. During the Miami GP, the Austrians claimed to the stewards that the Mercedes driver had not slowed down enough during the yellow flag situation. “Red Bull keeps coming up with these strange clauses. I think the FIA needs to look into this, because it’s so far-fetched that it’s been rejected,” Wolff continues. “You know, you race, you win and you lose on the track. That was a fair victory for us, as there have been so many in the past. And it’s just embarrassing.”
Interestingly, in Wolff’s condemnation of the Red Bull protest, he does not blame driver Max Verstappen. When asked whether the Red Bull protests should have been rejected sooner, the Austrian adds: “One of the protests they quickly withdrew. They didn’t even pursue it, because it was nonsense. The second one cost us five hours, because I don’t even know what they mean by ‘unsporting behavior’ or something. What’s it about? Who determines that? Because I’m one hundred percent sure it’s not Max, he’s a racer. He would never file a protest for something so trivial.”
Horner Has No Regrets
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, who was also present at the premiere in New York, says he has no regrets about the protest. “A team has the right to do that,” the Brit explains. “We saw something we thought was not possible. You can then submit it to the stewards, and that’s what we did. We have no regrets about that.”
