The war of words between Mercedes, led by Toto Wolff, and Red Bull, led by Christian Horner, continues following the latter’s launch of protests after the F1 Canadian GP.
Red Bull has, so far and in total, filed three protests against Mercedes driver George Russell throughout the F1 2025 season.
The first protest was launched after the Miami GP, with Red Bull accusing Russell of allegedly failing to slow for a single waved yellow flag.
After the Canadian GP, the Horner-led team went after the Mercedes driver for allegedly driving erratically under the Safety Car and displaying unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Red Bulls’ efforts remained fruitless as the protests were either rejected by the Stewards or withdrawn.
Wolff on Red Bull’s protests
Interviewed on the red carpet of the premiere of the upcoming F1 movie by Sky Sports, Toto Wolff expressed his frustration, calling Red Bull’s protests ‘petty’.
“So petty and so small.
“They’ve done it in Miami.
“Now they launched two protests.
“They took one back because it was ridiculous.
“And you’ve got to, you know, they come up with some weird ISC [International Sporting Code] clauses, sporting code clauses.
“I guess the FIA needs to look at that because it’s so far-fetched and was rejected.
“You know, you race, you win, and you lose on track.
“That was a fair victory for us, like so many they had in the past.
“And it’s just embarrassing.”
Doubts over Verstappen’s involvement in Red Bull’s protest
While Wolff made his feelings about Red Bull’s protests clear, he cast some doubts over reigning Champion Max Verstappen’s involvement in his team’s actions.
“One of them they actually pulled as a protest, they didn’t even follow it through because it was nonsense.
“The second one took us five hours because I don’t even know what you refer to as ‘unsportsmanlike behaviour’ or something.
“What is it all about?
“Who decides it?
“Because I’m 100 % sure it’s not Max, he’s a racer.
“He would never go for a protest on such a trivial thing.”
Wolff on potential ban for Verstappen
Max Verstappen is currently under threat of a race ban, accumulating 11 out of 12 points on his license, after a clash with Mercedes’ George Russell at the Spanish GP.
Asked whether a race ban for Verstappen would be good for the sport, Wolff denied commanding the Dutchman as a fair racer.
“Yeah, absolutely.
“I mean, he’s a main protagonist.
“He has his rough edges, but he’s also a fair race.
“We’ve seen it yesterday that when he spoke out that this wasn’t an issue.
“So yeah, that wouldn’t be good.”
Horner has no regrets
Like Wolff, Horner was also in attendance at the premiere of the F1 movie in New York.
Talking to British Broadcaster Sky during the event, Horner stated that he feels no ‘regrets’ about launching the protests against Russell.
The Red Bull boss is of the opinion that the team is well within its rights to protest racing incidents that they feel are not ‘quite right’.
“No, absolutely not.
“I mean, it’s a team’s right to do so.
“We saw something that we didn’t think was quite right.
“And you have the ability to put it in front of the stewards.
“So, that’s what we chose to do.
“Absolutely no regrets in that.”
Red Bull, which has struggled with its car since the start of the 2025 F1 season, is on the back foot in both Championships.
The team banks on Verstappen, with Horner pointing to past success and the number of races still to come.
“We had a good weekend in Barcelona. We won, obviously, in Imola a few races ago.
“As Sunday proved, anything can happen. So, you just got to hang in there.
“It’s a long championship. We don’t give up on anything. You keep fighting till the very end.
“So, if one person is going to do that, it’s definitely going to be Max.”
With a number of races left in this current F1 season, it remains to be seen whether the Canadian GP weekend marked the last time the Wolff and Horner-led teams find themselves at odds.
