Red Bull’s Protest Against Mercedes Driver Russell Dismissed

Red Bull’s protest against George Russell of Mercedes following the Miami Grand Prix has failed. The race stewards deemed the protest unfounded, allowing the Mercedes driver to retain his podium position directly ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who finished in fourth place.

The team had alleged that Russell failed to slow down during a yellow flag situation when Gabriel Bortoleto of Kick Sauber had come to a stop on the track in Florida. Had the protest succeeded, it could have resulted in a penalty that would have moved Verstappen up to third place, as he crossed the finish line just 2.3 seconds behind Russell.

Verstappen had attempted to overtake Russell for third place towards the end of the race but was unable to do so, settling for fourth position.

Russell missed the post-race press conference due to health reasons. Verstappen directed his team to look into the suspicion against Russell, and the Red Bull pit wall later instructed the four-time world champion to maintain a gap of no more than five seconds behind the Mercedes driver. Red Bull speculated about a possible time penalty against Russell.

In the World Championship standings, Verstappen is currently 32 points behind leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren. The next race is scheduled to take place in two weeks in Imola.