2021 Formula 1 Season Paddock

Russel was under DRS passing and that’s why he rocketed so fast to pass on the right.

 

Ya that's kind of what i'm getting at... he was coming up onto Bottas so quickly without much runway before the upcoming corner and maybe Bottas didn't expect him to keep going but to let off. Take Hamilton with DRS trying to get past Norris for like the 2 or 3 laps before he was able to. With DRS he was right there on Norris but backed out because he ran out of runway before a turn. It would be like Hamilton just ramrodding himself past Norris without regard for the upcoming turn.

 

I heard it’s like a 30 mph boost and he was already going 200 mph plus. Crazy!

 

I couldn't imagine crashing a car at those speeds. That'll put some hair on your chest but take some off your head.

 

notice there is also a kink to the left right there too

 

So yeah Bottas is on new cold tires and DRS had only just been activated the lap before so he hadn’t really experienced DRS (apart from letting Max past). He knew George was there cause the voice in his head was telling him George was there and the last report was he was within .5 of a second.

Bottas wanting to warm his tires stays on the dry line and squeezes George or didn’t expect DRS to help him that much. It’s a Williams after all.

George was all over Bottas on their last lap, the Williams was definitely the quicker car at that time.

Racing incident with slight blame on Valerie. After the crash he can be heard calling George a “c@nt”

 

The post-race interview with Russell was good. He described it as deliberate and something you might expect on the last lap but not in the middle of a race. No reason for that sort of desperate defense at that point.

 

From your screen shot Bottas still has dry road to the left of him. He was just surprised by how quick the Williams was. Go back and watch Georges last lap, he's all over Bottas!

 

So yeah ...

Russell apologizes to Bottas over Imola incident

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/russell-apologises-to-bottas-imola-incident/6350886/

 

Well there we go, shame either way... Without the accident Hamilton would have been way back in the pack out of the points, Russell would have had Bottas on the next lap and all would be good.

I wonder how the conversation with Toto was...

 

This feels like Toto being heavy-handed with Russell since he holds his future in his hands.......

 

‘Hostage’ scenario

 

Toto also has to defend Mercedes and his choices of keeping Bottas on for another year.

Admittedly Toto doesn’t have too many bosses but imagine trying to explain to the boss how a car which hasn’t scored any points in two years was quicker than the factory team car on track. Maybe Bottas had a problem?

 

Ahem, 1 point in 2019.

I have to agree with those wondering how the convo with Toto went. George Russell is a demonstrated talent in a very difficult situation career-wise. I wish him the very best.

 

Yes technically 1 point, but It was gifted to them by Alfa...

 

So basically Bottas admitted he “defended” his position which could have caused the accident.
“Bottas had laughed off Russell's suggestions that he had defended much harder against the Williams driver than he would have against anybody else.

"Sorry, I lost my aluminium foil hat somewhere. It's quite a theory," said the Finn.

"I'm always going to defend to any driver, I'm not keen to lose any positions. That was normal defending. It could have been a lot more aggressive if needed.“

 

I just don't care anymore

 

Sure you don’t.

 

He did a little but it wasn't the racing line.

 

Take away from the 2 races so far is that it's going to be an awesome fight all the way through the pack.

RedBull racing the Mercedes is going to be intense.

The mid pack fight is going to be awesome especially as the season builds and the new team drivers (Seb, Tsunoda, Danny, Carlos etc) find their rhythm.

With the bottom of the pack and Williams trying to pull themselves from last place to somewhere else...

Great season so far