FIA plan F1 rule tweak after “petty” Red Bull protest at Canadian GP

The FIA are considering increasing the fees required for F1 teams to launch a post-race protest following Red Bull’s at the Canadian Grand Prix.

George Russell’s victory yat the Canadian GP was in jeopardy after Red Bull lodged a post-race protest.

Red Bull were unhappy with Russell’s driving behind the Safety Car, which was caused by Lando Norris’ clash with Oscar Piastri.

Red Bull felt that Russell had been driving dangerously and deliberately brake-tested Max Verstappen to try to get him a penalty.

This was made more evident by Verstappen briefly overtaking Russell behind the Safety Car, which is against F1’s regulations.

Five hours after the race ended, the stewards dismissed the protest, meaning Russell kept his first victory of the season.

Toto Wolff described Red Bull’s actions as “petty and childish”.

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

After a meeting of the F1 Commission on Tuesday, they announced that: “It was agreed that the deposit fees for protests, appeals and right of reviews should be evaluated with a view to those fees being adjusted.”

They also said that they also discussed: “the introduction of a fee for investigations.”

Currently, F1 teams must pay 2000 euros to launch an official protest.

If their protest is successful, teams get that money back.

Russell suggested ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix that fee should be increased to a six-figure sum.

F1’s fanbase is still growing

F1's remarkable trajectory worldwide continues in 2025.

The FIA’s statement outlined that the global F1 fanbase is now at 827 million, continuing a year-on-year 10 per cent increase.

F1’s popularity continues to grow in the United States, with the fanbase up to 52 million (an 11 per cent increase).

43 per cent of F1’s global fanbase is under the age of 35, while 42 per cent of fans are female.

The F1 Commission also noted the positive impact of the new ‘F1’ movie, which has been described as a success in bringing new fans and eyes to the sport.