The "schoolboy error" that could shape a future F1 star

The dividing line between hero and zero can be breached within the blink of an eye in Formula 1. Just ask George Russell. For most of Sunday afternoon at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Russell had again looked like a man on the verge of something heroic.

Having arrived at Imola putting to bed rumours about his future by confirming with team management that he would indeed be kept on, the young Briton had found himself on the receiving end of some open praise from two-time champion Fernando Alonso.

Speaking about the young drivers, Alonso had told Sky F1: "From all of them, George Russell is the one that surprises me every weekend, how he's driving the Williams [with] zero mistakes. I'm really surprised about his natural speed. So if I have to say one name, Russell for the future is going to be my pick."

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Russell then looked set to cap it all with his first F1 points. Running in 10th during the safety car period brought about by Max Verstappen's puncture-induced exit, the Briton looked well placed to finally bring home the world championship point he has been so craving.

But that blink of an eye moment, when things go from good to bad, came on the run down to Acque Minerali, as he adopted an aggressive approach to keep his tyres warm.

Accelerating hard, and at the very moment he pulled the steering wheel paddle to change up a gear, his car hit a bump - and that was it. A millisecond of wheelspin was enough to pitch him off into the wall and out of the race.

The heartbreak of the lost opportunity was clear for everyone watching at home on television. As he sat inconsolable against the fence behind the crash barrier, in scenes reminiscent of Mika Hakkinen's tears after he spun out at Monza in 1999, you didn't need to see his face to realise the agony he was going through.

Yet, while some drivers would have found themselves on the receiving end of criticism for the kind of mistake Russell made, the response instead from everyone was one of sympathy and encouragement. This wasn't a moment to be ashamed of: it was one to learn from.

Toto Wolff, who has helped guide Russell's career for several years now as part of the Mercedes young driver programme, is always of the opinion that the days that make you great, be it as a team or a driver, are not those when you win. Instead, they are the occasions when you slip up, when you fail and then you have to pick yourself back up to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Russell is certainly not alone as a driver who has made what appear to be novice errors. Think of Lewis Hamilton (coincidentally in his second season) running into the back of Kimi Raikkonen at the pitlane exit in the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. Think of David Coulthard spinning off on the formation lap at the 1995 Italian Grand Prix, or crashing into the pitwall at Adelaide that year.

Getting the right experience away from the spotlight is essential to ensure drivers are properly ready for the different scale of challenge that comes when you have to step up to a title-winning outfit like Mercedes

Who can forget Alain Prost, then a three-time champion, spinning out on the formation lap of the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix and not making the start?

It also should not be lost on Russell that the heartbreak of his retirement at Imola was exacerbated by the fact that he had done such a stellar job to get that Williams into a points-scoring position on merit.

Had he delivered a second-rate performance and been falling down the order, or had he smashed his front wing on the first lap and been pegged adrift of the field after pitting for a replacement, then the safety car error would not have felt as bad. The pain of what went wrong was made greater by him having done so well.

Ultimately, the whole point of Russell being placed by Mercedes at Williams is so that he can learn his craft, and get these errors out of the way before he faces the increased pressure and exposure that comes for racing at a top-line team.

Spinning off behind the safety car is one thing when you are fighting for your first points, but would be treated quite differently if you are battling for a win or a world championship, or when your team's title hopes depend on you getting to the finish.

Mercedes and Wolff have been especially mindful about the dangers of promoting their young drivers too quickly. Valtteri Bottas spent four years at Williams, and would have been there even longer were it not for Nico Rosberg's shock departure from F1 at the end of 2016.

So getting the right experience away from the spotlight is essential to ensure drivers are properly ready for the different scale of challenge that comes when you have to step up to a title-winning outfit like Mercedes.

Last weekend, Williams' head of vehicle performance Dave Robson praised Russell not just for what he was delivering on track, but also for the way he was progressing as a driver and eking out improvement even from the disappointing moments.

And, while the safety car crash in Imola was an example of a lesson learned in public, Robson said that even Russell's struggles with an uncompetitive Williams in 2019 had been turned into a positive in making him a better driver.

"I think he's exceptionally good," said Robson. "He has stepped up. Obviously the car's helped him a lot over the last year, but even so, I think he was very good at making the most of the situation last year, and learning.

"I think in some of that adversity, he probably learned. Hopefully he'll look back in five or 10 years' time, and think actually that year last year was actually very valuable, miserable though it was at times.

"He is really valuable. He's got the confidence, and now experience, to really guide us. He's got a lot more to learn, but undoubtedly he has stepped up. I think he is a genuine talent. A massive asset to the team."

Judging by the encouragement and support he got after Sunday's crash, and his attitude in owning up to what he called a "schoolboy error", Russell may well come to look back at Imola 2020 not with regret, but with relief at a moment that helped make him the better driver he will be in the future.