F1 teams facing fines after FIA decision on stripping George Russell of race win

Red Bull might have been slapped with a fine for their protest over George Russell's win at the Canadian Grand Prix, had new FIA regulations hinted at by Toto Wolff been in place at the time. Christian Horner's outfit were upset at the Brit for "allegedly driving erratically under Safety Car and displaying unsportsmanlike behaviour by complaining that Car 1 had overtaken under Safety Car conditions."

They also felt that the Mercedes man had not adhered to the rule of keeping within 10 lengths of the Safety Car, handing the FIA a decision to make on whether or not to strip Russell of the race win. The FIA's stewards rejected this claim and six hours after Russell crossed the chequered flag to spark celebrations in Montreal, his win was finally confirmed.

The 27-year-old described Red Bull's protest as a "waste of time" and several Mercedes team members were forced to miss their flights out of Canada.

The Silver Arrows team principal Toto Wolff defended the right to protest, but revealed that the FIA have plans to issue fines if teams' pleas fall on deaf ears.

"Put in a fine that, at least if you lose it, is a little bit of an embarrassment that you lost so much money, and you're going to think twice whether you do it," Wolff said. "I think this is along the lines the FIA are thinking.

"No one is a fan of higher fines. It's a lot of money, and in Formula 1, we need to be careful that we are still being perceived as not over the top in relation to the normal world. But in that instance, absolutely put in a fine, and I think the president of the FIA is working on that."

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Wolff described Red Bull's reasons as a "long shot" and "really not real" while bemoaning that Andrew Shovlin and Ron Meadows had to stay behind at the racetrack to answer more questions.

"Well, I think it's absolutely legitimate to protest," Wolff continued. "We are fighting for race wins and championships. And if you have the opinion that what you've seen is not right, then you should protest.

"But some of these actions are just really not real. You know, protesting something that you call unsportsmanlike behaviour, a long shot, or you're protesting a car not leaving ten car lengths between himself and the Safety Car - well, he still needs to respect the delta.

"So, there are things that, from my perspective, are legit to protest and others that are just a little bit of a too long shot.

"And then you're waiting two hours until you actually protest because you need to figure out on what to base it. You take one protest back suddenly, and then we're all there five hours. Everybody misses planes going home, and we end up with a result that was a little bit predictable.

"That's something that I thought was not necessary."