It’s a fight that, according to Toto Wolff, should never have taken place – a scrap between Williams and Mercedes that ended with two battered cars – and led to more questions than answers for both parties.
George Russell’s Williams battled for position and attempted a move for P9 on Valtteri Bottas on lap 32 of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. This step was seen as brave if he wanted a future at Mercedes. Rule number one, don’t piss off your potential new bosses.
The two collided in a very fast shunt, spinning both cars, hitting the barriers, and leaving a trail of debris on the track. It brought out the red flag and the race was halted when we saw Russell get out of the car and stomp over to Bottas.
Russell admitted that he asked why the Finn “tried to kill us both”. Bottas denied that he heard much of what the 23-year-old was saying, but heard enough to show the Mercedes junior driver a middle finger.
Before the race, Russell dedicated his future to Mercedes and said: “You have your trust in me, I have my trust in you. Time will tell. It has been clear since the first day since 2016 when I signed for Mercedes that to do.” Job on the line and the opportunities would come. “
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But it’s one thing to say such a thing and another not to be tempted to capitalize on a situation that unfolds in front of you in the heat of a race.
Bottas, meanwhile, has to wonder why he fought with Williams for the final position as a scorer in the first place. Especially after his teammate demonstrated the power of the car by making his way from P9 to P2 on a track known to be difficult to overtake.
The Mercedes team boss, Wolff, was seen shaking his head in the garage. Both drivers dropped out of the race when the images played out in front of him.
The case became quite public and Russell, who was still affected by the accident, blamed Bottas after the race. In an interview with Sky Sports F1 he said: “We drive incredibly fast, we know the conditions, in his eyes he’s not really fighting for anything, a P9 for him is nothing – but for us it’s everything.
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“I’m doing the move. The move would have been absolutely easy, it had no reason to jerk like that. It’s a gentlemen’s agreement between the drivers, we always said that one day there would be a massive collision. And here are we.”
Bottas, who had problems all weekend during the race and qualifying, blamed Russell.
He said, “I saw the replay and there was definitely room for two cars the whole time so I don’t know, he tried to say something but it was entirely his fault, pretty much disappointing.”
A fight between Williams and Mercedes isn’t really a fight we’ve ever seen. Perhaps the question should be: Was it a good day of performance for Williams or a bad day for Mercedes? In reality, it was both, which is even more telling in what happened next.
Wolff was at a loss as to why the collision had happened in the first place and was frustrated with some of Russell’s comments.
“The whole situation should never have happened,” said Wolff.
“It meant taking risks and the other car is a Mercedes in front of him. In the development of a driver, you must never lose that global perspective for a young driver. So yeah, I think there is a lot for him to learn. “
After the race, Russell explained, “We’re both grown men and we’re going to chat and talk about it. Let the heat subside a little.
“I’m sure he’s upset and frustrated with me when I’m with him. I was probably driving 30 mph faster than him and trying to overtake him and if it was a different driver he might not have done that . “
However, Wolff said the proposal was “cops ** t”.
“The whole situation is absolutely not amusing for us, to be honest,” said Wolff.
Russell is a clear starting line-up talent and was excruciatingly close to victory during his explosive performance in the W11 at the Sakhir Grand Prix. He sat for Lewis Hamilton, who was just recovering from COVID-19.
Russell, who is usually calm and collective in his words, apologized with a fuller understanding of Wolff’s position after the dust settled on the event.
“I apologize to Valtteri, my team and anyone who has felt disappointed with my actions,” he wrote. “That’s not who I am and I expect more from myself because I know that others expect more from me.”
Both drivers will present their case to the boss of Mercedes Wolff at the end of the season, with Bottas, Hamilton and Russell all no longer having contracts.
However, if Hamilton decides not to retire later this year, there will only be one vacancy between two of them, and situations like this have not helped any of their cases for a future seat.
But as Wolff said earlier, “You can’t have bulldogs in the cockpit and expect them to act like puppies.”
The post George Russell versus Valtteri Bottas: How the fallout unfolded when Toto left Wolff “unmoved” | F1 | Sports first appeared on monter-une-startup.
