Red Bull handed 'petty' protest criticism

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has criticised Red Bull for lodging a "petty" protest against George Russell after last Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix. 

Red Bull filed protests against Russell's victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, surrounding two incidents during the late safety car period. 

The Milton Keynes-based outfit felt the Mercedes driver had brake tested Max Verstappen, whilst also falling beyond 10 car lengths behind the safety car. 

Delivery of the protests was announced by the FIA stewards at 17:34 local time (10:34 pm BST), with the rejection arriving three and a half hours later at 21:05 (2:05 am BST).

It meant the official results were not published until late in the evening in Montreal, whilst many around the world did not know the protest verdict until they woke up. 

In Steiner's opinion, it is a bad look for F1 when the results are not officially known until several hours after the conclusion of a race. He also disagreed with Red Bull's decision to protest.

When asked for his thoughts on Red Bull's protest, Steiner told the Red Flags podcast: "I think it was petty, because I don't think it was a game from George under the safety car, the 10 car lengths. I don't think he was brake testing him, because he [Verstappen] was not behind him. 

"Obviously, Max then overshot and went past him. But it wasn't a brake test. So, if you look at the sport in general, to put this [protest] in after the race, and then they [the stewards] have to wait to confirm the results. 

"For what it is, under the safety car, it's not something. There was never a danger or anything, in my opinion. Obviously, I didn't see all the data, but you know, is it right? Maybe not. 

"If they had given a penalty for this and the race result would have changed, that would have been pretty bad for the sport, and for that, sometimes you have to avoid these things."