George Russell claimed that there are no rules of engagement imposed by Mercedes Formula 1 team. He is free to fight Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas if he has the capacity and a car.
Mercedes junior driver revealed the details after the crash with Bottas in the middle of Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Both drivers had a massive accident when the Brit’s Williams’ went on a damp patch.
Both drivers were left off the hook by the stewards by declaring it as a racing incident. Russell was not happy with the incident which put him in an emotional dilemma. He issued instinctive feisty statements, while speaking with media after the crash.
However, the young driver soon realized his mistake and called it a “poor judgement”. He issued a public statement apologizing to Bottas the very next day.
Read More: Emotional behavior was a “very poor judgement” says Russell
Despite confrontation with Bottas, he insisted that the Mercedes had not imposed any restrictions on him. He is free to fight fighting against its drivers.
Nonetheless, Williams currently lack the pace and capacity. It have a huge power deficit against the seven times world champion squad on F1 tracks.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes Formula 1 boss following the incident, says that Russell had “lots to learn”. He also pointed the young talent to the “global perspective”, which the British driver shall keep an eye on. He shall be careful while racing against the team that brought him into F1.
“I think first if we find ourselves fighting a Mercedes again, we’ll be doing a very good job and we’ll be in a very good position, so hopefully we do find ourselves in that circumstance,” said Russell.
“But no, definitely there’s no rules of engagement [laid out], it’s just a bit more of common sense.”
Russell says his fight his not just against Nicholas Latifi at Williams but also against Hamilton and Bottas as a team-mate.
He said: “As a driver, you never go into any incident planning to crash and end your race, and certainly not with a ‘team-mate’.
“I’m here because of Mercedes, they got me through all the junior ranks, they really helped me into Formula 1 and as a consequence they’re a family to me as Williams are a family to me.
“Lewis and Valtteri are team-mates to me as Nicholas is a team-mate to me, so the number one rule as a racing driver is you don’t crash with your team-mate.
“That’s behind us now, we live and learn, and we will move on.”
