Christian Horner admits no regrets over Mercedes protest

Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner says he does not regret protesting Mercedes star George Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell won Sunday's race in Montreal, but official confirmation of his victory took hours to arrive after Red Bull filed a formal protest against his car with the FIA.

Red Bull alleged that the Mercedes driver twice broke regulations in relation to driving erratically and leaving too much space behind the safety car in the closing stages.

Following a five-hour wait, the stewards ultimately cleared Russell of any wrongdoing, dismissing Red Bull's protest and making his first win of the season official.

Horner's decision to launch a protest was heavily criticised by his Silver Arrows counterpart Toto Wolff, who labelled it 'embarrassing', but the Brit said it was fully justified when speaking to Sky Sports at the premiere of the new F1 movie on Monday.

"No, absolutely not," Horner said when asked if he had any regrets. "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."

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F1 championship battle heats up

It was the second time this season that Red Bull had protested a race result, with their claim over the validity of Russell's third-place finish in Miami also thrown out.

Russell's triumph in Montreal moved the Brit to within 19 points of defending champion Verstappen in the drivers' standings, as the pair made up more ground on McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

All four title contenders will enjoy some downtime this weekend before attention quickly turns to the Austrian Grand Prix at the iconic Red Bull Ring.

It was Russell who came out on top in Spielberg in 2024, taking full advantage of a dramatic collision between Norris and Verstappen as they battled it out for the lead in one of the most controversial incidents of the year.

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