George Russell opens up on Imola smash with Valtteri Bottas

George Russell has spoken at length about his crash with Valtteri Bottas at Imola in 2021, which sparked an angry reaction from both drivers.

The Grand Prix at the iconic Italian circuit last year generated a number of flashpoints in the rain, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen clashing at the start of the race.

The biggest accident of all, though, came when Russell went for an overtake on Bottas heading into the first chicane, with both men crashing at high speed and retiring instantly.

This was, of course, amid growing speculation that Russell would replace Bottas at Mercedes for 2022 - something that transpired - and at the time he naturally might have felt that such an accident would scupper his chances of getting a seat with the Silver Arrows.

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, though, the Briton reflected on the accident and explained why, despite it obviously being a negative moment in his career, he was not too worried about it costing him a shot at Mercedes, with him driving for Williams at the time, thanks to the relationship he already had with the team due to the fact he was a junior driver for them.

"Obviously crashing into the driver whose seat you're trying to take, and into the team who have supported you your whole career wasn't in the plan," said Russell, "But I think it's where those sort of killer instincts come in.

Formula One F1 - Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy - April 18, 2021 Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and Williams' George Russell in action during the race REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini

"I was a Williams driver. I'd been there for two years and we'd scored zero points. The teams who have finished eighth, ninth, tenth in a championship - they often don't score more than ten points in a whole season. So if you ever get that opportunity to score one or two points, that is huge for the team.

"If you could finish eighth or ninth in the Constructors' championship, you're talking tens of millions of dollars in prize money extra that you would be given.

"I'm in a race, I'm in 11th position, and when you're in a car like that, you've gotta put it all on the line. You are not gonna score points if you're conservative and play Mr. Consistent. It didn't even really cross my mind that it was Valtteri and a Mercedes - that was an opening to score points for myself, for my team, and I had to go for it."

Video: George Russell and Valtteri Bottas crash at Imola

[Credit: Sky Sports F1]

"I'd never crashed at that speed before. I got on a wet patch and the car just spun and I'm going sideways down the track with carbon fibre flying everywhere.

"I can't see to my right because you're kind of locked in the cockpit. I don't know what I'm gonna hit and I'm sort of bracing for impact. Fortunately enough, the overall impact wasn't too bad and we sort of slowed down into the gravel and hit the barrier slightly."

"Firstly, I was furious with Valtteri, which was probably not the right thing to do, but that was an opportunity [for points] that has just disappeared. You know, it wasn't that I've just crashed into Valtteri or Mercedes, it's points we've lost and I thought that he'd lost for us. That was probably also a lesson for me that you need to look at the overall picture from other people's view before taking a snap judgement.

"I was very hotheaded and went over and he was also hotheaded, you know, middle fingers were flying and swear words were being thrown around and it was not a very pleasant situation. That was also really a learning point for me, you need to take a moment to think about it before making a snap judgement."

Formula One F1 - Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy - April 16, 2021 Williams' George Russell in action during practice REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini

A big moment for sure but, as mentioned, Russell did not feel the incident, whilst far from ideal, would harm his overall chances of getting the Mercedes drive for 2022, with him revealing how he spoke with some of the mechanics working on Bottas' car at the time, as well as Merc team boss Toto Wolff's reaction:

"I didn't really know what to think. I was flying home with Toto that evening. The one flight that I take with him a year, it was that one. He was very upset with the situation and pretty angry also because that was the very first year of this new financial cost cap that had been implemented and the damage that occurred in that incident for Mercedes was I think one and a half million dollars.

"So he was obviously very upset and frustrated about that. We left it for the following day and then I went around his house for lunch a few days later and everything was no problem at all.

"We moved on from it. I feel like in situations like that, you almost grow together. It sort of pulls you closer I probably built a closer relationship with Valtteri's group of engineers."

Video: George Russell on his rise to Formula 1

"I knew them already and they all knew that there was a potential that I'd be replacing him. I called them all and said, 'look, I'm really sorry for what happened on Sunday.' It was only the chief mechanic and the chief engineer for him and I said I was really sorry for how that panned out.

"I knew all of these guys anyway because I was a junior driver for Mercedes so I'd often flown with the Mercedes team. I had a good relationship with everyone, so it wasn't a sort of difficult thing to do."

"My argument was," Russell continued on his Mercedes prospects, "I was in a position that was better than where the Williams should be and he was in a position worse than where the Mercedes should be at the time.

Bottas and Russell in a press conference.

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - DECEMBER 03: George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes GP and Valtteri Bottas of Finland and Mercedes GP talk in the Drivers Press Conference during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Sakhir at Bahrain International Circuit on December 03, 2020 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Florent Gooden - Pool/Getty Images)

"You can look at it from so many different angles and whether the crash was my fault or whether it was his fault, but there was an opportunity there. Toto actually said a couple of days later, he admired the fact that when I was sort of spinning out, I was still flat out on the throttle going sideways through the grass towards the wall at 200 miles an hour and said that shows the sort of driver I am.

"So even though from these difficult, negative situations, there's always a positive that comes from it."