“That’s How It Goes”- Bottas Refutes George Russell’s Big Claim On Imola Crash

After colliding with Valtteri Bottas on lap 34 of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, George Russell launched a barrage of accusations on the Finn. None of which the Finn is willing is buying.

Russell was furious in the immediate aftermath of their high-speed shunt on the start-finish straight at Imola. From blaming the Finn for the crash to accusing him of breaking a ‘gentlemen’s agreement between the drivers to tapping him on the helmet, Russell went all guns blazing on Valtteri.

His key argument was that the Mercedes driver moved under breaking while he was attempting to pass him. That even if he left him a car’s width, Bottas should have accounted for the conditions. However, Bottas believes that Russell should have understood the track was damp and not attempt the overtake.

“He knew that it was going to be damp there, because we have gone there lap after lap. I knew as well, and it was just not a place to go in those conditions on slicks. But he still went there,” said Bottas.

“It was his choice to go there, I was doing my job trying to defend, and I’m not going to move away and give him the dry patch back. That’s how it goes.'”

The defensive move on George Russell was clean: Bottas

After the dust settled down, the general F1 community pointed the finger at Russell for the crash. Some F1 Pundits believe that he was just trying to deflect the attention from his own fault.

Read More: FIA Ban Luca Corberi for 15 over Karting fight

But Bottas was not trying to be malicious in his defensive move. When asked by Motorsport.com if he had broken any gentlemen’s agreement, he replied –

“No, from my side, it was clean. And of course I’m defending, I’m not going to make any room for him. But also when I race, I have respect. So I see it differently than him.”

With the F1 world coming down on him hard, Russell has since apologized for his actions. He knows that he needs to hold himself in higher stead than that. Physical confrontations trackside has no place in the world of motorsports.