In the aftermath of his crash with George Russell, the general F1 community sided with Valtteri Bottas and acquitted him of the blame that Russell originally lay upon him. But that doesn’t take away from his disappointing performance in Imola.

A number of fans and pundits were still keen on admonishing the Finn for the way he conducted himself on and off the track. “I didn’t like his attitude in the interviews that followed,” said the Sky Sports F1 Germany Pundit, Ralf Schumacher.

(Quotes translated from German using Google)

“In general, he has to ask himself why he had to defend himself against a Williams while lying deep in midfield. He’s been on a similar level to Hamilton so many times, but he’s a long way off at the moment.”

Also Read- Brawn hints at Bottas being responsible for Imola crash

The former F1 driver is not wrong in his assessment. To some extent, the crash took away the focus from the terrible weekend that he was already having. Ralf believes that Bottas will soon be a dead man walking at Mercedes if he does not find his form.

“At Mercedes they try to explain it with a lack of grip on Botta’s rear axle – for me, the entire Valtteri Bottas package currently lacks grip. There has to be more to come, otherwise, he will quickly be sidelined.”

‘Valtteri Bottas is making steps backwards’ – Toto Wolff

Although Toto Wolff was in a light mood after the race, it must not have pleased him when he learned of the extent of damage that Bottas’ W12 suffered in the crash. With a budget cap ($145 Million) in place, every penny is important to them.

He does not blame Valtteri for wreaking such havoc; however, he does fault him for finding himself in that position in the first place. He should not be fighting for positions with a Williams car.

“I’m not sure who’s to blame for the incident. But the race did not go well for him, he’s making steps backwards,” Toto Wolff pulled no punches. (h:t- Sky Italia)

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Needless to say, he has to recover from this downturn in form. Or the driver who crashed into him could very well be taking his place in the Mercedes garage.