George Russell and Valtteri Bottas have repaired their relationship (Image: Getty)
has revealed that he and have repaired their relationship since their dramatic clash at the 2021 .
The two former rivals are now team-mates after the Finn returned to ahead of the 2025 season. Bottas was dropped by Sauber after three seasons in Hinwil, with Mattia Binotto opting to sign Gabriel Bortoleto as ’s new team-mate.
This move raised eyebrows given Russell’s newfound position as team leader following ’s exit. The pair clashed after a high-speed crash in damp conditions in Imola during the 2021 campaign, sparking fury from the Brit, who watched his chances of scoring his first F1 points vanish in a storm of shattered carbon fibre.
“I asked him if he was trying to kill us both,” Russell told Sky Sports F1 in the aftermath of the crash. “We’re going incredibly fast. We know the conditions. In his eyes, he is not really fighting for anything. A P9 is nothing for him, but for us, it’s everything.”
Russell was furious in the immediate aftermath of the crash and appeared to smack Bottas, who was still in his wrecked ’ cockpit, on the head. Before clambering out of his Williams car, he called the Finn a “d***head”.
However, analysis of the crash led a number of pundits and fans to lay the blame on Russell, who jolted off the dry line and lost control of his Williams machine on the damp Imola Tarmac.
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Bottas was wiped out by Russell during the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (Image: Getty)
In a later appearance on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Russell explained that he reached out to Bottas after the crash. “I did give him a phone call, which he didn’t answer,” he revealed.
“I did [leave a message], which was like, ‘Give me a call whenever you have a moment’. But we’ve never spoken about that crash, ever. We’ve never spoken about when I joined , we’ve never spoken about any of that.”
In a surprise turn of events, the two former rivals are now colleagues, but Russell does not foresee any issues on a personal level. “His experience is going to be massive,” he told the website.
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“Having someone with so much simulator and racing knowledge, and who fully knows the team, is going to be great. Hearing about his last few years at Sauber, with the engine, could be key too.
“You always have to keep an open mind as to what others are doing, and he has all of that under his belt. Obviously, years ago, we were perceived to not have a strong relationship, but we are both professionals and our relationship has grown. We often travel together and see each other at hotels or in the gym.”