Red Bull spoke with FIA before Canadian GP over Max Verstappen fears

Christian Horner has disclosed that Red Bull spoke to F1 race director Rui Marques ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix in a bid to protect Max Verstappen from the threat of "gamesmanship".

The Milton Keynes squad's fear was that the Dutchman's precarious FIA penalty points situation rendered him vulnerable to rival drivers trying to antagonise or catch him out.

With Verstappen on 11 of 12 allowed points on his super licence, the threat of suspension was a major talking point over the weekend at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Martin Brundle suggested his opponents may seek to goad the four-time F1 drivers' champion in a bid to see him banned for a round of the season.

After George Russell secured pole position in Montreal with Verstappen alongside him for the second successive campaign, the Mercedes driver made light of the 65-time grand prix winner's situation. It is something that worried Red Bull.

Those concerns materialised for the team late on during the race, during the Lando Norris-induced safety car.

When Russell braked behind the safety car on the back straight, Verstappen - who was behind in second place - had no option but to temporarily pass the W16, which the British driver called out on team radio.

"I think you could hear from George's press comments [after qualifying]. You know, his objective was reasonably clear," Horner told media, including RacingNews365, after the race.

"So I don't think there was any surprise he did that."

Seeking to protect Verstappen

Those alleged actions caused the six-time constructors' champions to protest Russell - and by extension the result of the grand prix, after the Mercedes had led home Verstappen's RB21 for victory.

The FIA stewards ultimately dismissed the protest, which was made on two grounds, leaving the results unchanged in a verdict delivered over five hours after the chequered flag.

Horner explained how Red Bull had sought to pre-empt such behaviour from the competition by speaking to Marques after the drivers' briefing on Friday.

"Look, I think that it is inevitable that there was going to be some potential gamesmanship," the 51-year-old said.

"It's something that we raised after the drivers' briefing with the race director, just so that they were mindful of it as well, because it's clear that that kind of stuff goes on."

Reflecting on how Verstappen conducted himself, he added: "But Max, I thought he's been squeaky clean all weekend - and drove a very good race today."

When asked about the specifics of the conversation with Marques, Horner stated: "We just said to him, 'Look, can you keep an eye on it? Because there have been comments that have been raised in the media, so please keep an eye on it'."