Russell reflects on Imola crash after "tough love" conversation with Toto Wolff

Lewis Hamilton made a mistake in Imola but recovered with a P2 finish. But Wolff and Mercedes had a headache and an issue to deal with after Valtteri Bottas and George Russell crashed together at high speed. They each pointed at each other, and Russell was furious. He went over to Bottas' car after the incident. 

The crash at Imola

Russell had to swallow those words after he was already taken to task by Toto Wolff on Sunday night. "If anything, my relationship with Toto has grown since the incident in Imola. There was a lot of tough love. But he ultimately wants to extract the absolute maximum from me, or from what he believes I can achieve. And you know, I think I'm mentally strong enough to be able to take this stuff on the chin, take it on board, reflect on it, and come back stronger," Russell told Autosport.com.

"Obviously, emotions were high... from all accounts. But my relationships with everybody to be honest - from everyone at Williams and to a number of the key people at Mercedes, who I've spoken with since, is better than ever. I think often these difficult moments bring you closer together."

After becoming a junior Mercedes driver at a very young age, the Brit is hoping for a seat at Mercedes in 2022, by either replacing Bottas or Hamilton.

"We had a very good conversation about it all. I took the evening to reflect upon it, and that morning [the next day]. And, to be honest, throughout the whole week. But as soon as I was back in my house on Sunday night, I knew what I did wrong."

Russell under pressure

Russell did not see Bottas as a teammate at the time of the crash, but he should according to the Mercedes team boss. Moving forward, Russell will see the Mercedes drivers as his teammates. 

"Mercedes are a family to me, as Williams are a family to me. And Lewis and Valtteri are team-mates to me, as Nicholas [Latifi] is a team-mate to me. Had that been Nicholas in the exact same circumstances, I probably would have backed out of it and I would have had words with him afterwards about it. But, if that was any other competitor, as I saw Valtteri, I went for it. Because I knew that was a points-paying opportunity for me," the Williams driver concluded.