How Russell sank to fourth after stunning start · RaceFans

George Russell was frustrated his team mate didn’t put up more of a fight when they came under attack from Lando Norris in the McLaren during the Spanish Grand Prix.

Norris passed Lewis Hamilton on lap 32 of Sunday’s race, then closed on Russell and took him four laps later. The McLaren driver finished second ahead of the Mercedes pair.

Earlier in the race Russell was told the team’s “first priority” was keeping second place ahead of the McLaren. But after switching Russell to the hard tyres and realising he was going to come under threat from Charles Leclerc, the team advised him to ensure he had enough life left in his tyres to defend his position.

Russell was able to do that, but after taking the lead at the start of the race, returning to the fourth place he started from was always going to be a disappointment for him.

Russell’s Spanish Grand Prix radio

Jump to:

“Verstappen pushing quite hard”
“Shout after turn 12 the gap”
“Target minus five”
“I feel I’m pushing a little bit too hard”
“These tyres feel okay”
“Why is he not defending?”
“Priority will be having rubber remaining”
“Heads up earlier”
“Leclerc expected to be a threat”
“It’s all going in the right direction”

“Verstappen pushing quite hard”

Russell stunned Max Verstappen and Lando Norris by sweeping around the outside of them to take the lead at the start. In a race where tyre management was going to be key in the early stages, Russell was struck how hard Vertappen was pushing to take the lead:

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“Shout after turn 12 the gap”

Once Verstappen had passed him, Russell was able to keep Norris behind more easily. The McLaren driver consistently got within DRS range and Russell’s race engineer Marcus Dudley kept him appraised of the threat behind: