"Give the a**e a rest": Humorous interaction between George Russell and Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes driver George Russell pulled Kick Sauber's Valtteri Bottas's leg during the Mexican Grand Prix. Though they have a friendly relationship off the track, the two drivers have had intense battles over the years resulting in high-profile altercations on the track such as their crash in the Imola GP in 2021. Further, the British driver took Bottas's seat ahead of the 2022 season.

Since leaving the German team at the end of the 2021 season, the Finnish driver has pursued other interests such as cycling and making his own gin. He competed in cycling's UCI Gravel World Championship in Belgium ahead of the US Grand Prix and finished 133rd in his class. So when Russell spotted the 10-time race winner running at the track in Mexico, he asked why he wasn't cycling, to which the Finn replied:

"'I'm having a break.”

"Having a break?" George Russell asked.

"Just 3 weeks.”

"Give the a**e a rest," Russell said.

Bottas laughed at the quip and agreed, "Yeah."

The two had positive qualifying sessions in Mexico on Saturday. The Mercedes driver finished in P5 while Bottas qualified in P15.

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George Russell analyzes his P5 in the Mexican GP qualifying

Mercedes driver George Russell said he was grateful to engineers for fixing his car after a hefty shunt in the FP2 session on Friday. Speaking with F1.com, the British driver said he was satisfied with his P5 in the Mexican Grand Prix qualifying session, the best he could have hoped for:

"Firstly, a big thank you to everyone in the garage for working so hard to get the car ready for today. I am therefore happy with our recovery from yesterday. We are still running the previous specification package which we’ve had for the last 12 races, so to be less than two-tenths off the front row is a solid effort.

My final lap felt good, and I was happy with it as I crossed the line. P5 was likely the most we could have hoped for today given the speed of those in front. I don’t think we quite have the race pace of the four cars ahead but let’s see tomorrow. I also expect that they will be scrapping quite hard so maybe the race will come towards us."

Russell will start the Mexican Grand Prix ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. He would look to fight for the podium positions on Sunday.