George Russell wasn’t pulling any punches in regards to his thoughts on Valtteri Bottas after their disastrous crash at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.Russell made an attempt to pass Bottas in Imola, moving in on the scarily high-speed approach to the track’s opening corner.Once Russell’s front tyre went onto the wet grass, that was it for the Williams driver. Losing control of his ride, Russell clattered into Bottas, shattering both men’s dream of winning in the process.Despite the severity of the crash, neither man was harmed. A spritely Russell was on his team radio immediately after to let his opinions be heard, however, saying, as per Daily Mail: “What the f*** was he doing? Honestly. Is he a f****** p**** or what?”With his temper at an all-time high, Russell then moved over to the wreckage Bottas had emerged from. A furious argument between the two appeared to lead to Russell slapping Bottas on the helmet. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately for those who loved car crash TV of the more figurative variety), there was no further physical altercation between the two.Bottas made sure, however, to show Russell his middle finger shortly thereafter.

Russell later revealed he had asked Bottas why he was “trying to kill them both” during their heated exchange. The crash led to the race being halted at lap 34 out of 63 due to the wave of debris the collision had left on the track. 

Reactions on social media were surprisingly more reasonable than the drivers involved, with one individual posting: “Neither Russell nor Bottas were at fault. Russell had the run with DRS and rightly went for it. Bottas was taking the normal racing line. The unusual circumstance was that it was only the dry line.”

Another fan proved considerably harsher, going after Russell’s goal to become one of the Mercedes team’s two F1 seats: “So after a 200mph+ crash, in his moment of fury, GPDA director George Russell decides to wack Valterri Bottas on the head before he knows Bottas has any issues. This is the man that is expected to drive the Mercedes F1 team to future victories?”

Max Verstappen ultimately won the race with Lewis Hamilton making a comeback at second place after losing control on lap 31.