“That was nice to watch at home” – Fernando Alonso and George Russell are forming quite a bond in the paddock, praising each other at every opportunity.
Fernando Alonso sees a future world champ in George Russell, openly praising him on many occasions. He even followed Russell while he was off F1 for a couple of years, admitting to being thoroughly impressed by him.
“Definitely very impressed. I said also last year when I was following the sport that I think he has been very, very impressive with the performance we saw in the Williams.
“We know that it is not a competitive package. It is better this year but not in the last two [years] and [despite that] I think he was putting in something special every weekend and that was nice to watch at home.
“That is something you always get impressed by.”
George Russell over the moon
Russell is having a great season, killing it on Saturdays and finally scoring points for Williams at Hungary. He’s set to make his dream move to Mercedes next season, which could allow him to fulfil Alonso’s wish of seeing him as a world champion.
“It means a lot to me to hear something like Fernando. He’s one of the greatest racing drivers ever.
“I saw a statistic that he’d only be ten or so short of points to have a lot more titles. Two world championships are a great achievement, but it was so close to a lot more.
“It’s always nice to be praised by drivers you respect very much.”
