George Russell secures his Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix victory after the race stewards dismissed Red Bull’s protest.
Starting from pole, the British driver controlled the race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, finishing ahead of Max Verstappen.
A late Safety Car, triggered by the collision between the McLaren team-mates, seemed to guarantee a straightforward finish for Russell.
But as he followed the Safety Car behind Bernd Maylander, Verstappen unexpectedly zoomed past what he deemed a slow-moving Mercedes, briefly overtaking Russell in the process.
Red Bull’s Gianpiero Lambiase and Max Verstappen protested over team radio, accusing Russell of erratic driving — suddenly braking hard.
He was also accused of leaving more than a 10-car-length gap behind the Safety Car.
However, the race stewards have rejected the protest.
Stephen Knowles and Lambiase attended the stewards’ room on behalf of Red Bull, and Ron Meadows and Andrew Shovlin on behalf of Mercedes.
The FIA representatives were Tim Malyon and Rui Marques, as a statement from the FIA explained the reasoning behind the decision to reject the appeal.
Race stewards waive off Red Bull protest
It read: “Mr Malyon explained that the incident had been observed by the race control team and assessed to not warrant being reported to the stewards.
“He said that periodic braking under safety car is typical and to be expected.
“He said that for this reason, race control always allows a degree of tolerance with respect to the 10 car length rule recognising that there is a need for a reasonable degree of braking and acceleration.
“Having regard to the evidence of Mr Malyon, we accept the driver of Car 63’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.”
Norris receives a time penalty for Piastri collision
In the other matters to be settled, the Haas duo of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon both escaped penalties.
The British driver was given a warning instead for failing to follow the Race Directors instructions and his team-mate faced no further action for alleged erratic driving in the pit exit road, holding onto his P9 result.
Lando Norris, meanwhile, receives a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Oscar Piastri but no penalty points on his licence.
As he retired from the race, it doesn’t affect his result, and because he was still classified for completing 90 per cent of the race, he doesn’t carry over a grid penalty for Austria.
READ MORE – Kimi Antonelli maintains Canada F1 podium after Safety Car infringement ruling
Discussion about this post