Mercedes pair rage after ugly crash as Max Verstappen claims crazy Imola Grand Prix

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has turned out to be a thriller, particularly after Mercedes drivers almost came to blows in a wild race.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has easily won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in a massive victory as carnage unfolded behind him with a crazy race paced with spinning cars and costly mistakes.

The worst hit appeared to be Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton making up for a horror day for the team by earning his way back to second place on the podium after a shocking lap 32 where teammate Valtteri Bottas and young Mercedes driver George Russell, who drives for Williams, crashed in wild scenes.

McLaren's Lando Norris had a brilliant drive to finish third as Australia's Daniel Ricciardo was forced to give way to his younger teammate.

Stream the Formula 1 Made in Italy Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Earlier on the lap, Hamilton made a mistake and drove off the track, only just about to get back onto the track by reversing out of the gravel trap.

It looked like he had very little chance of staying in the race but Hamilton did save it, restarting a lap behind and needing to pit to fix some damage from driving into the gravel.

That was until Bottas and Russell collided in a massive smash, forcing a red flag and effectively erasing the deficit.

It was a wild crash with the pair coming together at one of the fastest points on the track, leaving plenty of debris, while both men were blaming each other for the smash.

"What the f***," Bottas said.

"Are you ok?" the engineer said.

"Yeah."

George Russell walks away from the wreck.

But Russell was also furious.

"What the f*** was he doing? Is he a **** **** or what?"

The immediate vision looked like Russell hit the grass and slammed into the side of Bottas.

But the commentators also pointed to some slight movement from Bottas as "spooking" Russell as he came to the corner.

After the dust had settled, Russell tweeted his disappoinment.

Thanks for all the messages. I'm fine, just disappointed. At the end of the day, it's an unfortunate incident. You're entitled to defend your position. But at 330kph, you have to respect the speed and the conditions when doing so. Gutted for the team. They deserved more today.

— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) April 18, 2021

The race has been red flagged after the incident with debris all over the place as the men crashed at one of the fastest points of the race.

Luckily both men were alright but there were plenty of hard feelings, with Russell approaching Bottas before the Fin flipped off the Brit, before Russell hit Bottas helmet.

Some good content right here. #ImolaGP 🇮🇹 #F1 https://t.co/0Z7ourbaRK

— Nick DeGroot (@ndegroot89) April 18, 2021

It's sparked debate online as plenty of questions were asked about the smash.

Russell/Bottas: six of one I reckon ...... Bottas moved a touch right and Russell reacts too violently in moving right and hits the grass. #f1 @f1 #imola

— Byron Young (@byronf1) April 18, 2021

F1 remains appropriately extremely dramatic lol pic.twitter.com/2jAVDgNnb7

— Nikko Ramos (@NikkoRMS) April 18, 2021

For me Bottas moved. It was just a bit but at that speed and with not much space, it put Russell on the wet. Was probably unconscious and more a race at driver twitch, but I’d still say it was Bottas at fault. #F1

— Alex Yoong (@alexyoong) April 18, 2021

It was the big incident in a race full of incidents with drivers going wide constantly throughout the race.

But when it came down to the racing, it was an absorbing final 10 laps with Hamilton, Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc battling for the two minor podium positions.

Hamilton eventually caught Leclerc, while Norris held his countryman off until the final few laps, but hanging on to third place on the podium.

Lando Norris mixed up the podium at Imola.

After the race, Hamilton said "it's the first time I've made a mistake in a long time".

But Norris, who claimed his second F1 podium, was pleased with the result.

"I'm happy, it was a nice recovery after yesterday," Norris said. "It was a long race, a tough one but I didn't start so well and I came back through with good pace. I tried hanging on to second but Lewis was a bit too quick for me today. It's nice to be fighting these guys. It's nice to be there on merit and pure pace and hopefully  we can have some more in the future."

Verstappen was happy with his day at the office with his first win in Italy.

"It was very challenging out there, especially in the beginning to stay on track to be honest, it was very slippery," he said. "I think we managed everything well.

"Then there was a little moment in my restart. Luckily we didn't spin. But everything else went really well today so very happy with that."

Emilia Romagna Grand Results

1st: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2nd: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 

3rd: Lando Norris (McLaren)

4th: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

5th: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

6th: Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)

7th: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

8th: Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)

9th: Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) * 

10th: Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

* Under Investigation