Russell inspired by Alonso 2011 begins to take the lead in the Spanish F1 GP

George Russell says he was inspired by Fernando Alonso’s meteoric start in 2011 to take the lead at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Russell started fourth on the dirty side of the grid, alongside Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and behind front row duo Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

And when pole sitter Norris immediately focused on intercepting Verstappen, who had a better getaway and dove onto the grass to overtake his rival, Russell used a slingshot on both drivers to go around the outside on the long run until turn 1.

The move is reminiscent of Fernando Alonso’s lightning start in the 2011 race, when he launched his Ferrari ahead of the Red Bull starting duo of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

Although Alonso moved to the inside instead, those similarities weren’t entirely coincidental, with Russell admitting the Spaniard’s blistering start was on his mind and convinced him that taking the lead from fourth on the grid was not impossible.

“I dreamed about it last night and I dreamed about what my plan of attack would be,” Russell said.

“I saw the weather forecast and the wind had changed to a headwind in Turn 1, which I knew meant I could brake very late and deep into the corner.

“When I was racing karts, I always remembered seeing Fernando in 2011 start from 4th place and take the lead. I knew it was possible.”

Start of the race

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

Russell practiced his passes on the laps all the way to the grid, which further convinced him that it was a risk worth taking.

“I did four laps on the grid and I practiced braking as late as possible on each lap, so I knew where the limit was,” he explained.

“I knew how strong the wind was and I knew what was possible with the car, so it was a calculated risk. It was satisfying to achieve it.”

Russell was unable to enjoy his lead for long as Verstappen quickly moved past to take the lead, with the Briton ultimately having to settle for fourth behind Norris and Hamilton.

While attempting to cover the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, Russell stopped earlier than desired, forcing him into a final stint on hard tires while Hamilton was able to switch to the faster softs.

“There were a few things that worked against us today. We had a slow pit stop which then put us behind for the middle stint and under a bit of pressure,” he added .

“Then I lost a lot of time fighting with Lando and then putting on the hard tires was pretty bad.

“We knew the hard tires wouldn’t be good tires, but we wanted to share the risk between Lewis and I, because if we had extended (the stint) we could have been threatened by Charles.

“Obviously I felt a bit disappointed not to be on the podium, but I was there last week and Lewis did a great job and as a team we take the positives from what was some really promising races.