Valtteri Bottas ‘finished and dusted’ with the crash of George Russell, but the couple ‘didn’t talk’ | F1 | Sports

Valtteri Bottas says he managed to speak to George Russell about the crash on lap two of F1 season, but admitted that he has not spoken to the Williams driver since the high-speed crash that ruined both races .

The mood flared after the pair last got tangled at Imola on lap 32, when the Mercedes driver tried to defend his position in the Tamburello corner at 200 mph.

When Russell tried to take action against Bottas, the two collided and crashed – which prompted Russell to angrily blame Bottas in the ensuing period.

The young Mercedes driver has since publicly apologized for his part and said he would speak to Bottas in private. He admitted on Thursday that he had spoken extensively with team boss Toto Wolff to purify the air.

Speaking ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix today, Bottas revealed he had received a missed call from Russell but said the couple had not spoken since then.

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“I’ve heard and read about his post and his apology,” Bottas said in Portimao. “But to be honest, we didn’t speak after the race, after the stewards. I had a missed call Monday morning but I was still sleeping!

“We didn’t speak, but I’m sure it’s the same for George, it’s done and dusted, it’s history, there was no decision by the stewards, George apologized and it was time to move on.”

“It was a halfway decent goal and it’s never fun to be in this situation, but obviously it could have been a lot worse and I’m glad there weren’t any injuries and I was actually back on the Wednesday after that Track in Imola for the 2022 Pirelli test and I felt good. “

Russell, who impressed on a Mercedes seat for Lewis Hamilton at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, pondered the aftermath of the incident and how he might have done things a little differently.

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Wolff was less than amused by both the crash and the couple’s subsequent comments, stating that Russell had “a lot to learn”, which the 23-year-old admits he worked on.

He added, “I think I had a week, even an evening, to calm the emotions and think about everything.

“I think the incident is one thing, it’s part of the race and these things happen. I think the actions I added after that weren’t the real me.

“I kind of went against my own instincts to go away and show a little emotion, which in the heat of the moment was probably very poor judgment that led to a few more things later that afternoon.

“So I felt it necessary to bring this out on Monday morning to apologize for my actions.

“I want to lead by example, I want to be a role model, and these post-incident actions did not lead by example.”