Max Verstappen and Red Bull Slammed For 'Embarrassing and Petty' Protest Against George Russell's Canadian GP 2025 Win

The Canadian GP 2025 saw Mercedes take their first F1 win of the season as George Russell, who had qualified on pole ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, ended the race in first too. To make the race even sweeter for the Brackley-based side, Formula 1 rookie Kimi Antonelli also took his first podium of his career as he finished in third place behind Verstappen and Russell. 

However, the race win was almost taken away from Mercedes as a Red Bull protest after the race could have cost them the victory. 

A Russell-Verstappen incident late in the race was flagged as deliberate by RBR and they protested it, but the stewards rejected it and Russell's win remained. 

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Wolff Takes Red Bull to Task

Now Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has publicly commented on the protest and labelled them ‘petty, small and embarrassing’. 

"It's so petty and so small. You know, 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 at the F1 movie premiere in New York. 

It is not the first time Wolff has taken a similarly strong stance against the team, as the legendary title battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in 2021 also led to similar barbs. 

But it was a criticism rejected by RBR team principal Christian Horner, who also was present at the movie premiere. 

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Horner Defends Late Team Protest

Horner said that the team saw something that they felt was not right and therefore protested against it, a decision he has no regrets over. 

"You have the ability to put it in front of the stewards and so that's what we chose to do. Absolutely no regrets in that."

The good news for fans is that things did not go as far as they went in the Spanish GP when Verstappen intentionally barged into Russell late in the race. 

But it does show signs of a burgeoning rivalry and the potential for more such battles given both teams are basically competing for ‘best of the rest’ status this season behind the McLarens.