Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says he is certain Max Verstappen did not support Red Bull’s attempt to overturn George Russell’s victory on Sunday.

Russell beat Verstappen to victory in the Canadian Grand Prix as the race finished under Safety Car conditions. The pair accused each other of breaking the rules during the final laps when the race was neutralised.

The stewards upheld Russell’s victory after dismissing Red Bull’s objections as “unfounded”. Red Bull also brought an unsuccessful protest against the Mercedes driver at the Miami Grand Prix a month earlier. “It’s so petty and so small,” said Wolff.

Red Bull originally brought multiple protests against Russell, Wolff explained. One, which was rejected by the stewards, accused Russell of “unsportsmanlike” driving. The team withdrew another protest, Wolff claimed, which related to Verstappen’s repeated claim Russell fell too far behind the Safety Car.

Analysis: Why Verstappen’s claim Russell dropped too far behind the Safety Car was wrong

“They’ve done it in Miami, now they launched two protests, they took one back because it was ridiculous,” Wolff told Sky. “They come up with some weird ISC [International Sporting Code] clauses, sporting code clauses. I guess that everybody needs to look at that because it’s so far-fetched.

“That was rejected. You race, you win, and you lose on track. That was a fair victory for us, like so many they had in the past, and it’s just embarrassing.”

Wolff said he has no doubt Verstappen did not support either of Red Bull’s protests. “They actually pulled [one] protest, they didn’t even follow it through because it was nonsense,” he said.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

“And the second one took us five hours there because – I don’t know what, they referred to unsportsmanlike behaviour or something.

“What is it all about? Why do you know that? Who decides it? Because I’m 100% sure it’s not Max. He’s a racer. He would never go for a protest on such a trivial thing.”

Verstappen’s radio messages on Russell

Lap: 68/70 VER: 2’05.276
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.

Miss nothing from RaceFans

Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:

Go ad-free for just £1 per month

>> Find out more and sign up

2025 Canadian Grand Prix

Browse all 2025 Canadian Grand Prix articles