Guenther Steiner offered his hilarious take on the crash between Russell and Bottas in Imola. The two drivers had a high-speed collision mid-race, and the aftermath saw verbal exchanges, blame games and even physical assault when Russell smacked Bottas across his helmet.
Speaking on F1 Podcast ‘On the Marbles’, Steiner was asked what he thought of the incident and what he would have said if he was Russell’s team principal. He never flinched when he said, “I would have said, ‘Why didn’t you slap him harder?’” to a round of laughter.
Steiner continued with his funny take, saying, “He didn’t run out of it (their confrontation). He answered back to you. If you would’ve slapped him harder, maybe he would be afraid of you now, you know.”
Multiple guilty parties
F1 fans across the world mostly blamed George Russell for causing the crash and ending Bottas’ race, but Steiner did not believe the Mercedes driver was completely innocent either.
He said, “You always need two when there’s an accident. So, I would say, if I was George‘s team principal, I would be on his side! Do not worry, I would be loud about how right he is!”
But Williams surprised fans when they kept silent and did not address the crash or what happened after it. One can speculate that it’s probably because of the authority Toto Wolff holds at the constructor, in addition to their co-operation with Mercedes itself.
In fact, George Russell, who initially went on scathing rants accusing Bottas for the crash, later apologized to him and Mercedes for harming their chance to gain more points.
“Obviously the team missed out on potential points which this year are very important to them. So, you need to fight a good fight. But unfortunately, his association with Mercedes is very strong, as well,” remarked Steiner.
Read more: “I had to say sorry”: Max Verstappen reveals why he had to apologise to teammate Sergio Perez