Toto Wolff slams Red Bull for “petty” and “embarrassing” F1 Canadian GP protest

Toto Wolff has hit out at Red Bull after they launched a protest against George Russell following his victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, labelling it as “petty” and “embarrassing”.

Russell stormed to his and Mercedes’ first win of the 2025 F1 season at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday.

Russell finished ahead of Max Verstappen as the race finished behind the Safety Car following Lando Norris’ race-ending incident.

Under the Safety Car, Russell and Verstappen complained about each other team radio.

Verstappen briefly overtook Russell under the Safety Car after the Mercedes driver slammed the brakes.

Two hours after the race, Red Bull launched a protest linked to Russell’s driving under the Safety Car.

The FIA rejected Red Bull’s protest against Russell, meaning he kept the victory.

At the new F1 movie premiere in New York, Wolff criticised Red Bull’s post-race behaviour in Montreal.

“First of all it took the team, Red Bull Racing, two hours before they launched the protest,” he said.

“That was their doing. Honestly, it’s so petty and so small. They did it in Miami. Now they launched two protests, they took one back because it was ridiculous. They come up with weirdo IC clauses, sporting code causes.

“I guess the FIA needs to look at that because it’s so farfetch’d. It 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. It’s just embarrassing.”

Wolff revealed that Red Bull withdrew one of their protests against Russell.

The Mercedes boss also questioned who was responsible for the protests, dismissing the idea that Verstappen would have pushed for it.

“One they actually pulled as a protest, not even following it though because it was nonsense,” Wolff explained.

“The second one took us five hours there because I don’t even know what they referred to as unsportsmanlike behaviour. What is it all about? Why do you do that? Who decides it? I am 100% sure it’s not Max. He’s a racer and he wouldn’t go for a protest on such a trivial thing.”

Wolff addresses Russell’s contract extension

Remarkably, Russell’s Mercedes contract expires at the end of this year.

The former Williams driver has arguably been the driver of the season so far due to his incredibly consistent performances.

Wolff confirmed that “it’s all on plan” when asked about negotiations with Russell.

Wolff was also asked about the prospect of Verstappen potentially picking up a one-race ban this year.

He thinks it wouldn’t be good for F1 if the world champion missed a race.

“Absolutely. He’s a main protagonist,” Wolff replied. “He has his rough edges but also a fair racer. We saw yesterday that this wasn’t an issue. It wouldn’t be good.”