Valtteri Bottas and George Russell collided hard at Imola. The Englishman came alongside Bottas with DRS and overtook him, but then slipped on the wet road surface. Russell took the Mercedes driver with him, which put both drivers out of the race.
Bottas and Russell were angry at each other's action after the incident. Whereas Russell felt that Bottas didn't give him any room to overtake, thus ignoring a gentleman's agreement, the Finn thought it was only logical that he didn't just let Russell drive past him. "I didn't make any sudden moves," he stated to Motorsport.com.
"I think it's quite clear from his onboard as well, I always left a space.
"No, from my side, it was clean," Bottas continued.
"And of course I'm defending, I'm not going to make any room for him. But also when I race, I have respect. So I see it differently than him. He knew that it was going to be damp there, because we have gone there lap after lap. I knew as well, and it was just not a place to go in those conditions on slicks. But he still went there."