Toto Wolff pulled no punches at the premiere of the F1 movie, calling out Red Bull‘s ’embarrassing’ attempt to strip George Russell of his fourth career Grand Prix victory at the Canadian Grand Prix. Christian Horner‘s squad launched a post-race protest with the FIA, but this was ultimately rejected. Red Bull took issue with Russell’s driving under a late safety car, which was brought out when Lando Norris crashed into McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.

The Brit braked hard on the run into the final chicane, meaning that Verstappen overtook him briefly. Horner’s squad perceived this to be ‘unsportsmanlike behaviour’ and launched a protest. While Russell kept hold of the victory, all is not well between the two teams. “First of all, it took the team, Red Bull Racing, two hours before they launched the protest,” team principal Wolff fumed in an interview with Sky Sports F1 at the F1 movie premiere in New York.

“That was their doing,” Wolff said. “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 far-fetched. 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 then continued his rant, questioning who within the Red Bull camp was pushing for the protest. “One they actually pulled as a protest, not even following it though because it was nonsense,” he continued.

“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.”

As well as bringing Verstappen closer to championship leader Piastri, Red Bull stood to benefit from overturning Russell’s win in Montreal. The Milton Keynes squad have dropped to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship standings and are effectively fighting with one hand tied behind their backs due to the struggles of the second car.

Heading into the 11th race of the campaign in Austria in two weeks, Red Bull sit 27 points behind Mercedes, who leapfrogged Ferrari with their double podium in Montreal. Verstappen could also come under pressure from Russell in the Drivers’ Championship