“In five days, not a hundred, he went from last to first” – Fernando Alonso has compared the George Russell situation from Williams to Mercedes with Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull to Ferrari.
Fernando Alonso concedes it is difficult to compare George Russell vis-a-vis other young drivers of his generation. Russell sprung into prominence after his Saturday qualifying performances capped by his incredible one-off stint with Mercedes at Sakhir.
“The Russell case is striking in explaining this version of F1. In five days, not a hundred, he went from last to first. All without a divine touch, without meditating in Tibet or sh*t. It was enough just to get into a Mercedes.
“Evaluating the drivers is complicated. Of course, if we think about who Hamilton or [Valtteri] Bottas see more often in their rearview mirrors, we find [Max] Verstappen. [Charles] Leclerc is an exceptional talent but to really measure him it takes a few years.”
Mercedes more important to Lewis Hamilton
Alonso also spoke about the importance of Mercedes to Lewis Hamilton. He compared it with the situation of Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull and Fernando Alonso at Renault. While cars do play a role, a champion driver needs to be seated in it to achieve glory.
“Hamilton to Mercedes. There is no domination if there is not a winning car. When you conquer a series of titles it means you have a decisive technical superiority.
“It happened to Hamilton, it happened to [Sebastian] Vettel that with Red Bull he triumphed and then he could not win [the title] again. The same happened to me with Renault in 2005 and 2006.”
Also read: “He has probably learned to be a little more humble”- Jenson Button on Fernando Alonso
