Red Bull protests against Mercedes in Miami, FIA rejects it: here’s what happened. Red Bull’s protest against Mercedes and George Russell over yellow flag speed .

Tensions flared overnight in Miami as Red Bull went on the offensive against Mercedes, but the FIA rejected their protest. In a Grand Prix full of glamour, the fiercest battles played out both on and off the track.

Ferrari took center stage, coming under fire from Williams, with Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz involved in a late-race contact (ultimately resolved with no penalties). Red Bull also had complaints and tried to get George Russell sanctioned.

In the middle of the night Italian time, Christian Horner filed an official protest against Mercedes. According to the data available, driver #63 had allegedly not slowed down sufficiently under yellow flag conditions (caused by Gabriel Bortoleto).

This allowed the British driver to secure third place at the expense of Max Verstappen. The Dutchman reported the potential infraction to his pit wall, noting that Russell was accelerating on lap 32 at turn 17, where the Sauber car—stranded due to a Ferrari power unit failure—was parked.

In the closing laps, Red Bull informed the four-time world champion to stay within five seconds of George Russell, as they intended to file a protest against Mercedes.

The verdict from the investigation was quick to arrive. The race stewards listened carefully to both parties and examined the data. In the end, they decided not to penalize George Russell. Driver #63 received no sanction, as he had lifted off the throttle (more so than other drivers), according to the FIA statement.

Red Bull, on the other hand, argued that even though George Russell had lifted, the Mercedes driver had not sufficiently reduced his speed in the section of the track where the yellow flag was shown. Max Verstappen, who was behind him, had done so.

Article 26.1 of the Sporting Code states that a driver must reduce speed in a yellow flag zone. However, it does not specify “visibly reduced speed” or “a reduction in speed relative to normal driving in a significant part of the track.” Russell was indeed going slowly in the yellow flag area, but his speed was “slightly higher.”