Watch: George Russell's scintillating start to the race at F1 Spanish GP

Mercedes driver George Russell got off to a scintillating start at the Spanish GP, vaulting from fourth position to snatch the lead from pole sitter Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the first corner.

Norris and Verstappen lined up on the front row, while Russell shared the second row with his teammate Lewis Hamilton. As the five lights went off, the McLaren driver got off to a slower start than his Red Bull rival on the inside line and tried to squeeze him into the grass.

While the lead pair lost momentum fighting each other, George Russell positioned himself to get the tow down the enormous front stretch. As Hamilton dropped behind, Russell drove to the outside and pulled off a sensational three-wide overtake to take the lead in the first corner, ahead of Verstappen and Norris.

Watch the Mercedes driver's scintillating first-lap exploits in the below video:

George Russell's time at the front lasted a few laps, with Max Verstappen taking the lead on lap 3. Russell settled for second position keeping Lando Norris at bay in the first stint. However, the McLaren driver was devastatingly fast in the second stint on fresher medium tires.

Russell didn't yield the position to Norris without a fight, as the former F2 rivals had a brilliant battle for the second position. The Mercedes driver drove side by side for almost half a lap until the McLaren ace managed to dispatch Russell's W15.

Watch the battle between Russell and Norris in the below video:

George Russell boxed early for the final stint, with Mercedes pitting him for hard tires. He ultimately lost the final podium spot to his teammate Lewis Hamilton on soft tires. However, he managed to finish ahead of Charles Leclerc to take home a P4 finish.

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George Russell disappointed after missing out on a podium finish

Although the Mercedes driver put on a masterful drive in the Spanish GP, he ultimately ended up finishing behind his teammate in fourth position, where he started the race.

George Russell explained that two main factors hindered his charge to a potential third-place finish. He cited the slow pitstop after the first stint, and the tire choice for the final stint, suggesting that the hard tire was "rubbish".

"A couple of things went against us today. The slow pitstop put me on the back foot a little bit in the middle stint and then I was forced to pit a bit early at the end," he told Sky Sports.

"That hard tire was pretty rubbish. We knew P3,P4 was the maximum and we had to protect that result. I was a little bit disappointed not to be standing on the podium but Lewis did a great job," he added.

The 26-year-old Mercedes driver was happy with the momentum in recent races and aims to stand on the top step of the podium in the coming weeks.