The Stewards have rejected Red Bull’s protest against George Russell after the Miami Grand Prix, allowing the Mercedes driver to keep his third-place finish ahead of Max Verstappen.
Earlier in the race, Ollie Bearman’s Haas came to a halt on track with what appeared to be an engine failure, prompting a Virtual Safety Car. Russell capitalised on the timing to pit for fresh tyres and rejoined just ahead of Verstappen in third. Later, Race Control deployed a second Virtual Safety Car after Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber stopped with a power unit issue. At that moment, Verstappen, still running behind Russell, radioed his team to say: “Check if George lifted, it was yellow.”
Red Bull protest about “clarity” of regulations
Following the race, Red Bull filed a protest, claiming that Russell had failed to sufficiently slow under yellow flags during one of the VSC periods. According to Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, the Milton Keynes-based team believed that Russell had breached the regulations. He stressed that Red Bull only wanted clarity on the application of the how the rules such situations.
“We felt that Russell has done something that is in breach of the regs as they are written, so that’s why we put a protest in today.”
“More than anything, you want clarity. The regulations say there should be a reduction in speed. It doesn’t talk about a lift, it talks about a reduction in speed.”
“We very clearly did that, and that is why Max flagged it immediately from what he saw within the cockpit.”
The arguments on the protest
In a meeting with the Stewards after the 2025 F1 Miami GP race, Red Bull, represented by senior race strategy engineer, Stephen Knowles, and Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, argued that Russell had “lifted the throttle” under the yellow flag conditions, thereby failing to reduce his speed. This, they said, breached the requirements of Article 26.1 a) of the Sporting Regulations, and was especially obvious as Verstappen, who had been running behind, had reduced his speed.
In their defence, Mercedes—represented by sporting director Ron Meadows and George Russell—argued that they followed the relevant regulations by significantly lifting the throttle in response to the yellow flag, a practice commonly accepted by teams and the FIA. They maintained that Russell lifted the throttle to acknowledge the yellow flag and emphasised that his lift was more substantial than those made by other drivers.
Unfounded Red Bull protest rejected
In their published findings, the Stewards outlined a detailed analysis of telemetry and onboard footage:
“It was evident from the onboard footage as well as from telemetry that Car 63 lifted the throttle when passing the yellow flag zone. The throttle was lifted by approx. 25 percent and this resulted in a reduction of torque of approx. 30 percent.”
They further clarified the interpretation of Article 26.1 a):
“Article 26.1. a) requires the driver to have ‘discernibly reduced speed’ in a yellow flag zone but does not specify if that means reducing the absolute speed or reducing the speed relative to the regular racing speed in the relevant part of the track.”
The Stewards noted that although Russell’s absolute speed increased slightly while passing through the yellow flag zone, his pace was still considerably slower than what is typical at racing speed in that section.
“The Stewards determine that the requirement of Article 26.1 a) concerning the reduction of speed in a yellow flag zone can only relate to a reduction relative to the regular racing speed as the reduction of the absolute speed can, depending on the part of the track in which the yellow flag is displayed, represent a compliance or a non-compliance with the regulations whereas a reduction of the relative speed always signals that the driver has acknowledged and respected the yellow flag. For instance, in a braking zone the absolute speed can be reduced without necessarily complying with the regulations.”
Ultimately, the Stewards rejected Red Bull’s protest, deeming it unfounded. As a result, Russell retained his podium finish, leaving Verstappen fourth in the final classification. If Red Bull’s protest has succeeded, Stewards could have handed Russell a penalty. This would have promoted Verstappen, who finished just 2.3 seconds behind, to third place.
Russell “really happy” with P3 after difficult Miami GP weekend
While speaking during his track interview after the 2025 F1 Miami GP race, ahead of Red Bull’s protest, the Russell stated that he was he was “really happy” to have come away from the race with a P3 after struggling throughout the weekend. He also praised McLaren’s strong performance, noting that a better result for him had not been in the cards due to their strong pace.
“Yeah, to be honest, really happy to come away with P3 because I’ve been struggling this weekend, personally, and always on the back foot. But ultimately, when it mattered, got a really good result today. But well done to the McLarens – they’re just down the road.”
When asked if it had been an easy challenge, Russell replied, “No, it’s not.” However, he explained that his calmness and comfort during the race had helped him achieve his great results.
“But I was pretty calm and I felt really good with the car to keep him behind me, so it was good.”
Reflecting further on the day’s activities, Russell spoke about the Lego race that the drivers had participated in during pre-race activities, joking that second-place finisher, Lando Norris may have held a grudge after their earlier coming together.
“I think Lando’s a bit upset with me because we had a bit of a crash on the Lego race this morning. I gave him a bit of an injured leg, so I don’t know if he’s going to complain at me for something.”
