Max Verstappen repeatedly accused George Russell of breaking the rules by dropping too far behind the Safety Car during the closing stages of yesterday’s race.

Russell was penalised for that very infraction at the Qatar Grand Prix last year. He received a five-second time penalty, and had he incurred the same on Sunday, Verstappen would have won the race.

But according to the stewards, Verstappen’s claims did not form part of Red Bull’s attempt to overturn Russell’s victory by bringing a protest against him. The reason is clear: Verstappen was mistaken. Russell may have dropped more than 10 car lengths behind the Safety Car but he was permitted to by the regulations.

Verstappen repeatedly accused Russell of falling too far behind the Safety Car over the final laps of the race. He first did so after the incident in which Russell slowed and Verstappen briefly overtook him, which formed the basis of Red Bull’s subsequent protest.

Lap: 68/70 VER: 2’05.276
Lambiase So just keep on top of the tyres at the moment Max, I’d be surprised if it restarts, so just keep on top of the tyres.
Verstappen After turn 10
The Safety Car is driving really slow, what is he doing?
Verstappen Russell slows and Verstappen briefly passes him before dropping behind again
George suddenly just aggressively braked.
Lambiase Understood, thank you. We will check for any erratic driving.
Lap: 69/70 VER: 2’03.745
Lambiase We can see that on our data stream as well, Max. Thank you for the info.
Verstappen Russell drops back from the Safety Car, then accelerates
That’s more than 10 car lengths also, there.
Lambiase Okay, we will check that as well, thank you.
Lambiase Yeah, that incident with Russell now being shown on the feeds Max. So, pretty blatant. Just don’t fall for the gamesmanship, okay? Thank you.
Lambiase Safety Car through the pit lane, Max.
Lap: 70/70 VER: 2’06.683
Verstappen Russell drops back from the Safety Car, then accelerates
Again, more than 10 car lengths, what is he doing?
Lambiase Thank you.
Verstappen Way more than 10, look at this!
Lambiase Yes, thank you Max. We’ll have a look. Cheers mate.
Lambiase Ah, this is final lap, Max. Well done for keeping your head for the moment.

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Russell’s onboard camera showed at least two occasions when he dropped back from the Safety Car then caught up again. On both occasions he alerted Mercedes to the fact his delta time had changed because the sector they were driving through was under yellow flags.

As the Safety Car period was triggered in response to Lando Norris crashing on the pit straight, race control chose to send the pack through the pit lane and avoid the accident scene. Therefore they did not pass through any yellow flags for the incident until they reached the pit lane exit.

This was where Russell slowed down and the gap between him and the Safety Car opened up, prompting the complaints from Verstappen. Russell reassured his team he was following the requirement to slow down because of the yellow flags:

Lap: 68/70 RUS: 2’06.769
Russell Russell slows and Verstappen briefly passes him before dropping behind again
Verstappen just overtook me under the Safety Car.
Dudley Understood, we’ll look. So following the safety car into the pit lane. So reminder of 10 car lengths, pit limiter on.
Lap: 69/70 RUS: 2’03.817
Russell Russell drops back from the Safety Car, then accelerates
I was following the delta. It was negative.
Dudley So you push to catch the Safety Car now.
Russell Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dudley Trying to keep the tyres where they are. So the queue still hasn’t formed behind the Safety Car here.
Russell Probably be last lap, next lap?
Dudley So we’re following the Safety Car. Passing through the pit lane again, so follow the Safety Car through the pit lane, stay in the fast lane, pit limiter off. This is the final lap.
Lap: 70/70 RUS: 2’07.536
Dudley Russell drops back from the Safety Car, then accelerates
Safety Car delta.
Russell Yellow flag delta again on my, yeah, just following the delta, the Safety Car is pulling away from the delta. That was a yellow flag delta.
Russell Is this the last lap?
Dudley Affirm, this is the last lap.
Russell Yeah, I don’t know what Verstappen was doing when I was behind the Safety Car.

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The regulation Russell was complying with was introduced in 2023. It states that “any driver passing through a double waved yellow flag marshalling sector during a Safety Car […] must stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU in each marshalling sector concerned.”

The same yellow flag caused a near-miss further behind the race leaders. When Esteban Ocon realised he was entering a double yellow flag zone he braked so hard Carlos Sainz Jnr went off in order to avoid hitting the Haas. The stewards cleared Ocon of erratic driving, noting he “explained that he braked where he did because he heard an audible warning of a double yellow zone and a double yellow delta warning appeared on his wheel” and “positioning data confirmed that the area between turns one and two was a double yellow sector.”

Whether or not Verstappen knew Russell was complying with the delta time rule, his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase did not correct him. This may have been because Red Bull would have nothing to gain from broadcasting a message saying a rival was complying with the rules, or perhaps it was in order to avoid further antagonising Verstappen.

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