George Russell has issued an apology to Valtteri Bottas and to “those who felt let down by my actions” following their collision at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Russell clashed with Bottas while the pair were contested ninth spot at Imola and suffered high-speed impacts into the barriers.
An angry Russell confronted Bottas, who was still sat in his car, in the immediate aftermath and was subsequently critical of the Mercedes driver during his post-race interviews.
Stewards deemed no driver was fully to blame and took no further action.
Bottas shrugged off Russell’s criticism while Mercedes boss Toto Wolff suggested the Briton should have been wiser in his approach.
Russell took to social media on Monday evening to address the situation.
“Yesterday wasn’t my proudest day,” wrote Russell. “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.
“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.
“Now it’s full focus on Portugal and a chance to show what I’m really about. Thanks for all the messages, both positive and negative. They will all help me to grow.”
He is obviously doing this to save his ride for next year, because he did nothing wrong on track.
His physical reaction to the crash by swiping Bottas was not a good example to budding racers in the lower formulae. If that had happened at a club race in the UK and been reported by an observer he would have been in trouble. He made a mistake, the stewards decided it was a racing incident, but the “assault” should have been criticised at least.