George Russell Channels Fernando Alonso’s 2011 Brilliance in Dazzling Spanish GP Start

George Russell shares how Fernando Alonso motivated him for his remarkable beginning at the Spanish Grand Prix. Russell looks back on his impressive performance during the first lap of the event.

George Russell shared that he was inspired by Fernando Alonso's impressive start at the Spanish Grand Prix 13 years ago, which helped him take the lead in the first lap.

Russell executed a daring move around the outside of Turn 1 to pass both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris as they approached the first corner.

The Mercedes driver trailed closely behind Verstappen, then moved to the left, overtaking from the outside to seize the lead in the race.

Although Russell soon ceded his position to Verstappen, the maneuver was nonetheless impressive.

In a manner akin to this, Alonso grabbed the race lead from his fourth starting position during the first lap of the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix.

The Spanish driver strategically utilized his KERS system and displayed remarkable car handling to pass both Red Bull cars and Lewis Hamilton as they approached Turn 1.

In a post-race interview with various media outlets in Barcelona, including Crash.net, Russell confessed that he had been “dreaming” of a similar start the previous night, mentioning Alonso’s incredible launch in 2011.

He mentioned that he had been imagining his strategy the previous night. He noticed that the weather forecast predicted a headwind at Turn 1, which indicated that he could brake much later and deeper into the corner.

"Absolutely, I constantly recall seeing Fernando in 2012 [2011] when I was go-kart racing, starting from fourth position and making it to the front. It made me realize that it could be done."

Although Russell initially led the race, he ultimately ended up in fourth place.

During the pit stop phase, Norris managed to get ahead of Russell. Later, Hamilton, who chose to use soft tires instead of hard ones for the final part of the race, also overtook Russell.

Russell admitted that opting for the hard tires turned out to be a poor decision.

"Yes, somewhat," he commented. "I believe a few minor setbacks affected us today. The slow pit stop, for instance, put us at a disadvantage during the middle portion of the race and added some pressure."

The driver explained that they wasted a significant amount of time battling with Lando and switching to the hard tires. Although this was a bit of a setback, it ultimately secured the third and fourth positions for the team, which was their main objective.

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