Dr Helmut Marko believes that Toto Wolff should not be too upset by the incident between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which led to the race being red-flagged. Wolff was critical of Russell's actions after the crash and argued that the Williams driver should have been more wary of battling with a Mercedes. Marko, however, thinks that Wolff should be grateful of the fact that the subsequent restart of the race benefited his other driver Lewis Hamilton, who was able to work his way back through the field despite sliding off and damaging his front wing. "Toto has to look at the bigger picture," Marko told Servus TV. "Because of Russell's move Hamilton was able to return to the race. Without that crash from Russell he would have lost a lap." Wolff did not hold back in his comments about Russell - who has long been linked to Mercedes as a junior driver - following the Grand Prix. In response to the Briton's suggestion that Bottas had only battled so intensely for P9 because it was Russell who was involved, Wolff called the comments "bullsh*t". "The whole situation should have never happened," the Mercedes team principal told RacingNews365.com and select media after the race. "Valtteri had a bad first 30 laps and shouldn't have been there. But George should have never launched into this manoeuvre. "Considering that the track was drying up, it meant taking risks and the other car is a Mercedes in front of you. And in any driver's development for a young driver, you must never lose this global perspective. So yeah, lots to learn, and fine I guess." Russell was visibly furious after the crash but has since issued an apology to Bottas. "Having had time to reflect on what happened afterwards, I know I should have handled the whole situation better," the Williams driver wrote on Twitter. "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."
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