George Russell SLAPS Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas in angry confrontation after huge F1 crash

George Russell SLAPS Valtteri Bottas in angry confrontation and labels Mercedes driver a ‘f***ing p***k’ as Brit vents fury after pair crash out of Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

  • George Russell appeared to slap Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas after confronting him
  • The Brit was furious after the pair crashed out of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
  • The Williams driver is hopeful of a promotion to the Mercedes team in the future

British driver George Russell appeared to slap Valtteri Bottas on the helmet after their high-speed crash at Sunday’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Russell was attempting to pass Bottas around the outside of the Finn’s Mercedes on the 200mph run down to the opening corner in Imola.

But the Williams driver dipped his front-right tyre on to the damp grass, causing him to lose control of his Williams and crash into Bottas.

George Russell vented his fury after a crash with Valtteri Bottas took both out of the race

The Williams driver appeared to slap Bottas in a confrontation and labelled him ‘f***ing p***k’

Both drivers ended up in the wall with significant damage sustained to their respective cars.

Russell said over the radio: “What the f*** was he doing? Honestly. Is he a f***ing p***k or what?”

Russell, a member of the Mercedes junior academy and hopeful of a promotion from Williams to the world champions, left the cockpit of his damaged machine, before heading over to confront Bottas.

The race was brought to a halt on lap 34 as officials tried to clean up the debris from the crash

The race was brought to a halt on lap 34 as officials tried to clean up the debris from the crash

Russell leaned into Bottas’s car and hit the Finn on his helmet with Bottas gesticulating back at the Williams driver.

The race was stopped on lap 34 of 63 to clean up the debris from the crash.

The flashpoint took place just moments after Lewis Hamilton slipped from second to ninth after running off the road at turn 7 and damaging his front wing.

The world champion stopped for repairs but emerged from the pits way down the order with Max Verstappen leading.

George Russell has hopes of earning a promotion from Williams to Mercedes in the future

George Russell has hopes of earning a promotion from Williams to Mercedes in the future

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