Wolff: Bottas-Russell accident 'should never have happened'

The clash involving Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and George Russell (Williams) during the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix of Formula 1 gave rise to numerous positions taken. Firstly among those mainly concerned, the Finn and the Englishman blaming each other.

Huge crash between Bottas and Russell

The two drivers collide violently on the starting straight

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The boss of the Etoile brand, Toto wolff, also has a say. According to the Austrian, “There is never a situation in life where one is 100% to blame and the other is zero. » In other words, it’s a bit of the two men’s fault that the accident happened.

“The whole situation should never have happened, He continues. Valtteri had a bad first 30 laps and shouldn’t have been there”, that is to say in the fight for the bottom of the top 10. “But George should never have undertaken this maneuver, considering that the place was shrinking. »

Valtteri Bottas should have performed better on a wet track while George Russell could have eased off at that moment. “The other car is a Mercedes in front of him. In the development of any driver, for a young driver, you must never lose that general perspective. So yeah, there's a lot for George to learn, I guess. »

George Russell has also forgotten the performance deficit of his Williams on a drying road compared to the overpowering Mercedes. “The odds are against him anyway when the track dries out. Now I don't want him to try to prove anything to us », Toto Wolff coldly analyzes.

Find in issue 2308 of AUTOhebdo, on sale Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands, the analysis of F1 at Imola by our F1 journalists.