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Red Bull boss Christian Horner has denied that Max Verstappen had any role in the team's decision to officially protest George Russell's Canadian Grand Prix win.
The Dutchman finished in second place in Montreal, behind the Mercedes driver, who came from pole position to his first victory of the season.
Due to their proximity on track before the start of the race, there were expected comments about a potential clash between the two drivers, given their controversial collision in the previous race in Spain.
The race was a fair battle, but during the late safety car period, which eventually gave Russell the win, the Briton appeared to slow down enough to surprise Verstappen, leading to a brief overtaking.
Verstappen immediately complained to the engineers that Russell was driving erratically, and combined with the belief that he was more than ten car lengths away from the safety car, Red Bull decided to lodge an official protest.
However, Verstappen showed no signs of anger after the race, prompting Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to conclude that he had no part in Red Bull's decision, which he called "petty" and "disgraceful".
Speaking to the media after the race, Horner confirmed Wolff's theory. When asked if Verstappen persuaded the team to protest, Horner replied:
"No, not at all. Max talked to you (the media), and I didn't even know about it. Every team has the right to lodge a protest, it costs 2,000 euros per protest. We were surprised that the incident was not immediately recorded and referred to the referees, so we used the right to do it ourselves, which is why Max and the others are now in front of the referees."
Horner confirmed that Red Bull asked the race management to 'monitor the situation'
After qualifying, when asked about a potential duel with Verstappen in the first corner, Russell jokingly said: "I've got a few more points on my driving license to play with."
Horner reacts
Horner took Russell's comments more seriously, saying he apparently had a "clear aim" to provoke Verstappen into a move that could earn him a 12th penalty point and thus a one-race suspension.
The Brit praised Verstappen, saying he drove "perfectly clean all weekend and had a great race".
When asked if he had formally spoken to race director Rui Marques about the possibility of provoking Verstappen, Horner confirmed:
"We only told them: please pay attention to it, because certain statements have already been made in the media, so let them follow the situation."
English (US) ·