19/04/2021
NEWS STORY
George Russell has issued an apology to Valtteri Bottas following their high-speed clash at Imola on Sunday.
In the moments after the crash, the Briton asked the Finn if he had been trying to kill both of them, convinced that the Mercedes driver was at fault.
Though the stewards officially declared it a racing incident and therefore not warranting punishment, Russell's stance began to soften after watching numerous replays.
"When you can review everything and look at it in slow motion and everything, and from certain camera angles, it all looks very, very different," said the Briton.
"One camera angle makes it look one way, another camera angle, like I said, when you watch it from behind on the CCTV footage it looked quite clear, in a different opinion.
"I was more frustrated because of the speed of the incident," he admitted. "I've never, ever had a crash at the end of a straight when we're absolutely flat-out, and we've all seen the dangers of motorsport very recently and to be honest I would have reacted exactly the same had it been battling for the win, battling for ninth or battling for last. Because I just thought it was unnecessary and it was avoidable.
"Valtteri did nothing that was outside the rules," he added, "but you have to take an element of responsibility and consideration into the fact of the conditions. There's certain things you can do in certain ways when everything's stable, but when it's a damp track, there is a kink, and you're pushing someone towards the grass, onto the damp patches at over 200 miles an hour... there is a high risk of an incident, and that is why I was very disappointed because I just thought that was beyond a lack of respect, really, not towards me, but just a lack of respect towards these cars.
"Could it have been avoided? Yes," admitted the Williams driver. "Was Valtteri in the wrong? Probably not. "Could he have done something slightly more? Maybe. Was I in the wrong? I caused the crash by spinning, but was I wrong to go for that overtake? Absolutely not. You would have been foolish to lift at that position."
Tonight, having had twenty-four hours to think things over, Russell took to social media (where else?) to issue an apology to the Finn.
"Yesterday wasn't my proudest day," wrote the Briton. "I knew it would be one of our best opportunities to score points this season and, when those points matter as much as they do to us right now, sometimes you take risks. It didn't pay off and I have to take responsibility for that.
"Having had time to reflect on what happened afterwards, I know I should have handled the whole situation better. 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.
"I've learned some tough lessons this weekend and will come out of this a better driver and a better person for the experience.
"Now it's full focus on Portugal and a chance to show what I'm really about. Thanks for all the messages, both positive and negative. They will all help me to grow."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Imola, here.