Red Bull protests George Russell for not slowing under yellow flags, stewards’ hearing imminent

George Russell was summoned to the stewards after a Red Bull protest claimed he failed to slow under yellow flags during the Miami Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was ahead of Verstappen in third when Gabriel Bortoleto pulled off the road with power unit concerns, leading to a virtual safety car being deployed.

With Verstappen behind Russell, he got onto the team radio to complain: “Check if George lifted, it was a yellow,” he told his team.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

There was no stewards’ investigation carried out on the incident during the race, which saw Russell finish on the final step of the podium and Verstappen just over two seconds behind after being told to stay within five seconds by Red Bull, who was clearly planning on a protest.

Both Russell and Red Bull were summoned at 1915 local time, although Russell had earlier skipped press conference duties due to “medial reasons”.

“I think there was a situation in terms of yellow flags,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said when asked about Red Bull’s message during the race.

“I think this is what Max said on the radio to check. I don’t know…not that we are aware of it.”