He leant over the cockpit of the Mercedes and, blaming Bottas for the collision, asked whether the Finn was trying to kill them both.īottas claimed he did not hear what Russell said and instead opted for non-verbal communication by flicking his middle finger at the Williams driver. ![]() Russell unbuckled his seat belts, got out of his Williams and immediately marched towards Bottas' car. Russell's left front tyre mounted the side of Bottas' car, but was stopped from entering the cockpit by the Mercedes' halo, which appeared to come under considerable force as Russell's front left upright snapped against it.įrom that point onwards the two cars were out of control and hit the barrier on the left before coming to a halt with another big hit against the barrier at Tamburello.īoth cars were immediately out of the race, which itself was suspended to allow the marshals to clear up the mess. The loss of traction from the right rear wheel, pitched the Williams sideways and directly into the side of Bottas' Mercedes. With the DRS flap on his rear wing open, his car had less downforce than normal and his slick tyres lost traction as he crossed onto the white line marking the edge of the circuit, which was wet and slippery. Significantly, the track was still damp off the racing line, meaning Russell would have to venture onto a wet part of the track on slick tyres to complete the move. The Mercedes driver complied with the regulations by leaving a car's width to his right, but as the track kinked to the left, the space open to Russell was always going to become smaller. The Williams is not usually fast enough to fight against a Mercedes, but Russell switched to new slick tyres two laps earlier than Bottas and the extra tyre temperature he had generated in his Pirellis at that point helped level the playing field.īottas knew Russell was attacking as they started a new lap and held his line through the kink on the run down to the Tamburello chicane. Russell, who was running tenth in his Williams, got a better exit from the final corner on the previous lap and, with the help of his car's Drag Reduction System (DRS), was able to close on Bottas and line up an overtaking move on the run down to the Tamburello chicane at the start of lap 31. The collision itself was fairly straightforward to understand. In that context, it's easier to understand why tempers flared in the aftermath.īelow, we analyse the accident itself and how both drivers, Mercedes and the stewards reacted to the incident. The pair were teammates for a single race last year when Lewis Hamilton missed the Sakhir Grand Prix with COVID-19, and by almost all accounts Russell came out on top. A large part of his junior career was also funded by Mercedes. Russell is a Williams driver this year but is contracted to Mercedes on a long-term development contract that will almost certainly see him race for world champions in the future. ![]() The accident, which was deemed to be a racing incident by the stewards, would not have been such a big talking point had it occurred between two other drivers, but given Bottas' position at Mercedes is under threat from Russell next year, there is juicy subplot that couldn't be ignored on Sunday evening. The F1 blame game: Analysis of the Valtteri Bottas-George Russell clash and what happens nextīig accidents often come with big consequences in Formula One.įortunately, George Russell and Valtteri Bottas walked away unharmed from their 190 mph collision at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but that didn't stop egos being bruised in the aftermath. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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