Red Bull protests Russell over yellow flags in Miami

Red Bull lodged a protest against George Russell for allegedly failing to slow for yellow flags during the Miami Grand Prix.

Russell jumped ahead of Max Verstappen during the pit stop phase of Sunday’s race, with the Mercedes driver able to make a stop under virtual safety car conditions and finish in third place. However, when Gabriel Bortoleto retired on lap 33, Verstappen radioed his team to check if Russell had slowed down under yellow flags.

The Dutchman was later told to stay within 5s of Russell despite no messages on race control about any investigation, and after Verstappen finished 2.3s adrift of the Mercedes, Red Bull then protested against Russell.

Both teams were summoned to the stewards at 7:15 p.m. local time with the race result still not official.

Stewards are regularly hard on yellow flag infringements, so if the protest is upheld then Russell is likely to face a sporting penalty that would cost him his podium finish. However, a 10s time penalty would only cost him one position, with Alex Albon finishing 10.4s behind the Mercedes.