George Russell took to social media to apologise for the crash that he had with Valtteri Bottas in Imola.
The Williams driver was trying to overtake Bottas’ Mercedes aiming for ninth place when the two tangled up at high speed and crashed out of the race. Both the drivers were not hurt, but the accident brought the race to a halt with the stewards declaring it a racing incident.
The 23-year-old Brit climbed out of his car and walked up to Bottas who was still in his wrecked vehicle. He asked him if he wanted to kill them both. To this, Bottas responded with a middle finger.
The Williams driver also accused Bottas of breaking ‘a gentleman’s agreement’ by suggesting that Bottas was being tough with Russell. This was because Russell, a Mercedes-backed driver, was in line to take the Finn’s seat.
“Having had time to reflect on what happened afterwards, I know I should have handled the whole situation better,” said Russell.
“Emotions can run high in the heat of the moment and yesterday mine got the better of me. I apologise to Valtteri, to my team and to anyone who felt let down by my actions.
“That’s not who I am and I expect more from myself as I know others expect more from me.”
Russell also said that he learned some difficult lessons from this entire experience and would become a better driver and a better person. He realised that he had taken a risk but could not calculate it well and thus took responsibility for his actions.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said that Bottas’ car was almost a write-off. Also because of a cost cap the repair costs could lead to a hindrance in future upgrades. Wolff pinned the entire blame on Russell.
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