MERCEDES boss Toto Wolff has called Red Bull’s protest “petty” and “embarrassing” after George Russell beat reigning world champion Max Verstappen at Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Red Bull challenged Russell’s victory in Montreal for both driving erratically and committing unsportsmanlike conduct behind the safety car, a claim which was rejected by the stewards.

It was the second time they had launched a protest against the Mercedes driver this season following a claim he had failed to slow sufficiently under yellow flags in Miami.

Speaking to Sky Sports at the launch of the new F1 movie in New York, Mercedes principal Wolff said: “First of all, it took team Red Bull Racing two hours before they launched the protest, so that was in their doing. You know, honestly, it’s so petty and so small.

“They come up with some weird clauses, what they call clauses. I guess the FIA needs to look at that because it’s so far-fetched it was rejected.

“You know, you race, you win and you lose on track. That was a fair victory for us, like so many they had in the past. And it’s just embarrassing.”

Russell’s win in Montreal was a first of the season for Mercedes and the protest represented the latest in a series of controversies involving he and four-time world champion Verstappen.

However speaking at the same event, Red Bull boss Christian Horner insisted he had no regrets about the decision to go to the stewards.

Horner said: “No, absolutely not. I mean, it’s a team’s right to do so. You know, we saw something we didn’t think was quite right.

“You have the ability to put it in front of the stewards and so that’s what we chose to do. Absolutely no regrets in that.”