RUSSELL INSPIRED BY 2011 ALONSO START TO SWOOP INTO THE F1 SPANISH GP LEAD.
George Russell moved from fourth to first, mimicking Fernando Alonso’s legendary start in Formula One’s 2011 Spanish Grand Prix.
George Russell says he was motivated by Fernando Alonso’s rocket start in 2011 to take the Spanish Grand Prix lead.
Russell started fourth on the dirty side of the grid, alongside Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, and behind front-row drivers Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. And, as polesitter Norris focused on intercepting Verstappen, who had a stronger getaway and dipped onto the grass to pass his adversary, Russell utilized a slingshot to glide around the outside on the long run into Turn 1.
The maneuver was reminiscent of Fernando Alonso’s quick start at the 2011 race, when he slid his Ferrari past the front-row starting Red Bull combo of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.
While Alonso passed on the inside, Russell admitted that the Spaniard’s rocket start had crossed his mind and convinced him that grabbing the lead from fourth place on the grid was not difficult. “I was dreaming about it last night and what my plan of attack was going to be,” Russell told me.
“I checked the weather forecast, and the wind had switched into a headwind into Turn 1, which meant I could stop very late and deep into the corner. “When I was racing karts, I recall watching Fernando start from fourth place and take the lead in 2011. I knew it was possible.
Russell practiced his overtake on the laps to the grid, which convinced him that the risk was worthwhile. “I went four circuits to the grid and practiced braking as late as possible on every single lap, so I understood what the limit was.
“I knew how strong the wind was and what the car could handle, so it was a calculated risk. “It was satisfying to pull off.” Russell’s lead was short-lived, as Verstappen flew past to seize the lead, leaving the Briton in fourth place behind Norris and Hamilton.
Russell pitted earlier than desired in an attempt to cover up Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, forcing him to spend his last stint on hard tyres while Hamilton was able to switch to the faster softs. “We had a couple of little setbacks today. We had a sluggish pit stop, which put us on the back foot for the middle stint, putting us under some pressure,” he continued.
Then I lost a lot of time fighting with Lando, and pitting onto the hard tyre was quite bad. “We knew the hard was not going to be a great tyre, but we wanted to spread the risk between Lewis and me, because extending [the stint] could have put us at risk from Charles.
Obviously, I was unhappy not to be on the podium, but I was there last [to last] week and Lewis did an excellent job, and as a team, we are collecting positives from what has been a very promising couple of races.”
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