There was huge drama at the Canadian GP after George Russell secured his first victory of the 2025 season despite Red Bull’s protest to stewards after the checkered flag was shown
Christian Horner claims Red Bull did “everything they could” despite making an unsuccessful protest against George Russell’s victory at the Canadian GP. The Mercedes star secured his first win of the season in Quebec on Sunday as he finished ahead of reigning champion Max Verstappen.
Russell’s Mercedes colleague Kimi Antonelli secured a podium finish on what was an eye-catching weekend. But there was some drama after the checkered flag was waved as Red Bull protested against Russell’s success.
The British driver was accused of driving erratically behind a safety car, with Verstappen claiming he was dropping too far behind and had “aggressively braked”. They also accused Russell of “displaying unsportsmanlike intent” by complaining over the radio that Verstappen had overtaken him, “knowing that it would be overheard by race control and in the hope that Verstappen would be investigated”.
But that protest was dismissed after a lengthy review with stewards, with Red Bull boss Horner speaking on Instagram following the hearing. He wrote: “P2 and some good points for @MaxVerstappen1 today. He drove a good race and was competitive to be on George’s tail throughout.
“Yuki [Tsunoda] drove a positive race. We opted for the one stop and a long first stint to try and capitalise on any stoppages in the race. He was unlucky, on another day he could’ve got some good points. A win for Mercedes just shows how quickly things can turn. For us, as a Team, we did well and got everything from it that we could.”
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Explaining their decision to dismiss the protest, the stewards said: “We accept the driver of Car 63 [Russell]’s explanation of the incident and we are satisfied that the driver of Car 63 did not drive erratically by braking where he did or to the extent he did.
“We are not satisfied that by simply reporting to his team that Car 1 had overtaken that he engaged in unsportsmanlike conduct. Even though the protest did not allege it, we are also satisfied that by braking where and when he did and to the extent he did, the driver of Car 63 did not engage in unsportsmanlike conduct.”
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Mercedes made their own argument to the stewards, with Red Bull’s complaints ultimately dismissed. They argued that regular braking is normal behind the safety car to main temperatures, while they also claimed that Verstappen should have been able to anticipate Russell’s actions.
Russell’s win saw him close the gap to Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship standings. The British driver is now fourth, 22 points behind Verstappen in third, while McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is out in front.
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