Valtteri Bottas reveals "missed call" from George Russell in Imola crash aftermath

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Bottas reveals "missed call" from Russell in Imola crash aftermath

Neither driver has made contact with the other since their high-speed crash

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Thursday 29 April 2021 18:04

Valtteri Bottas has confirmed he and George Russell have failed to hold clear-the-air talks in the wake of their crash at Imola after the Mercedes driver missed a call from the Williams racer the morning after.

The collision between the pair caused a war of words in the aftermath of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with Russell eventually taking to social media to apologise for his actions during the episode.

Despite Russell initially declaring he would reach out to speak with Bottas, the Finn has revealed neither have spoken to one another since a post-race meeting with the stewards who declared what unfolded a racing incident.

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"I heard about his post [on social media] and apology and I read it," said Bottas. "To be honest, we haven't spoken after the race or after the stewards.

"I did have a missed call Monday morning but I was still sleeping. We haven't spoken but I am sure it is the same for George.

"It is done and dusted, it is history and there was no decision by the stewards. George apologised and it is time to move on."

Toto Wolff was strong in his defence of Bottas after the incident although Russell has now stated he believes his ties to the Mercedes team principal have "not been damaged" as he aims to secure a seat with the team next season.

Bottas has described the discussions he had with Wolff ahead of this weekend's Portuguese GP and explained how the Austrian had given him the support needed to regroup.

"We had a chat after just to go through the situation which is normal," he added.

"We agreed to take the positives, learn from the negatives and move on. It was one to forget but one positive is that it was only race two of the season and there are 21 to go."