Imola Crash Triggered ‘Quite the Opposite’ Reaction From Toto Wolff: George Russell

It was a rather dramatic end to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with George Russell and Valtteri Bottas ending up under the limelight. The duo came together in an extremely high-speed crash, as the collision ultimately wrecked their cars by the time they came to a standstill.

Interestingly, though, it wasn’t really the crash that caught everyone’s attention, but the reaction that followed from both the drivers. Russell, in particular, ended up having an outburst against Bottas, suggesting that the Finn was trying to kill them both.

Unsurprisingly, such harsh comments did not go down well with Mercedes’ boss, Toto Wolff. The Austrian was quite displeased with Russell blaming Bottas for the collision and ended up having a conversation with the Briton on the matter.

A week has gone by, and Russell has finally opened up on his chat with Wolff. The Williams driver clarified that the duo’s relationship has improved since the conversation in Imola. He also mentioned that confronting Bottas after the intense crash and accusing him was a “very poor judgement call“.

What did George Russell say?

As reported by ESPN, Russell opened up that Wolff has been supportive and constructive since the awful end to the weekend in Imola.

“Toto and I have spoken extensively since the incident but the contents of that will remain private,” Russell said. “He’s been very supportive, very constructive. Our relationship has not been damaged at all following the incident, if anything quite the opposite.”

“And likewise with everybody at Williams. They have been incredibly supportive, they want me to attack, go for opportunities. We’re proud to have been in that position. We were in 10th position, fighting for points on merit.”

After a tough couple of seasons with Williams, Russell has finally received a much more competitive car this season. The Briton is finally able to keep up with the top 10, which looked impossible in 2019 and 2020.

Of course, Russell blew the chance of scoring his first points for Williams in Imola. But the good news is that there are definitely more such opportunities heading Russell’s way this year, and Portimao could be one of them.

Hence, will Russell end the massive points drought for Williams this weekend at the Portuguese Grand Prix? Well, let’s wait and watch how the future unfolds.

Read More: George Russell: Bottas Incident “Not Going to Harm My Relationship With Mercedes”