Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton has praised George Russell for holding his hands up over his angry reaction to the crash that eliminated the Williams driver and Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas from the Emilia Romagna GP. Russell had been lining Bottas up for an overtake into Tamburello, using DRS, when he lost control of his FW43B and slammed into the Mercedes. Both cars speared off track into the barriers as a result. Russell was furious, approaching Bottas' wrecked car to admonish the Finn for what he felt had been a dangerous defence, before also pointing the finger firmly at Bottas in comments to the media afterwards. However, on Monday evening, Russell posted an apology to his Instagram page, saying, "Yesterday wasn’t my proudest day." "I knew it would be one of our best opportunities to score points this season and, when those points matter as much as they do to us right now, sometimes you take risks. It didn't pay off and I have to take responsibility for that." Acknowledging that his angered response and comments had perhaps been unwarranted, the Williams driver said, "Having had time to reflect on what happened afterwards, I know I should have handled the whole situation better. Emotions can run high in the heat of the moment and yesterday mine got the better of me. "I apologise to Valtteri, to my team and to anyone who felt let down by my actions. That’s not who I am and I expect more from myself, as I know others expect more from me. I’ve learned some tough lessons this weekend and will come out of this a better driver and a better person for the experience." Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who indirectly benefitted from the accident due to the resulting red flag that brought the Mercedes driver back onto the lead lap for the restart, weighed in to support his compatriot's mature response. "Strength comes from vulnerability," Hamilton posted in a comment reply to Russell's post. "If you don’t make the mistake you can never learn the lesson. Respect for taking responsibility. On to the next one."
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