George Russell’s victory at the Canadian Grand Prix has been confirmed despite Red Bull’s efforts to get the result overturned. Russell held off Max Verstappen to take the chequered flag in Montreal, having started from pole position. The race finished behind the safety car due to Lando Norris crashing out while attempting to overtake his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.
After the race, it emerged that Red Bull had challenged the result by submitting two protests against Russell. They alleged that he drove erratically in front of Verstappen during the safety car period in an attempt to get the Dutchman penalised. Red Bull also argued that Russell had committed ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ by complaining over the radio that Verstappen had overtaken him.
Both protests were dismissed by the stewards, who allowed the Brit to keep his victory after reviewing data and video evidence. The decision arrived nearly six hours after the chequered flag, with both drivers summoned to provide their version of events.
In a document confirming the decision, the stewards said: “We accept the driver of Car 63’s [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 [Verstappen] 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.”
Speaking after the race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also suggested that Russell may have dropped too far behind the safety car. However, there was no specific mention of that allegation in the document provided by the stewards.
Horner said: “Two protests that we’ve put to the stewards, that we’ve asked them to have a look at. Firstly, relating to the erratic driving behind the safety car, where George very heavily braked, obviously looking in his mirror for Max.
“Then the second one is very clearly the distance that was left behind the safety car that was well in excess, I think at least three times in excess, of the permitted distance.
“It’s €2,000 (£1,702) per protest, and we were surprised that they weren’t noted and sent to the stewards, so therefore you have the right as a competitor to do that and that’s what we’ve chosen to do.”
Russell’s victory in Canada saw him narrow the deficit to Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship standings. He is now in fourth place with a 22-point gap to his Red Bull rival, who sits third behind Norris and Piastri.