Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion, has expressed that he is impressed with Williams driver George Russell.
During the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, Russell shocked many when he replaced Lewis Hamilton after he had contracted the Coronavirus.
The young driver managed to qualify at P2 and missed out on the opportunity to score pole by losing to Valtteri Bottas.
The Brit was set to win the race until a failed pitstop blunder dropped him to P9 which earned him three points – two for the ninth place and one for the fastest lap.
What did Alonso say?
Alonso was highly impressed with Russell’s drive and stated that he had opened the eyes of millions of people.
“The opportunity with the Mercedes… I think it was a real opportunity for everyone to watch what a driver with the talent of George can do with a winning car,” Alonso said.
“He nearly won the first race at the first opportunity he had.
“That, I think, was proof for many people, not only a few, that we knew how good he was. That race in Bahrain was enough to open [the eyes] of millions of people.”
‘Future world champ’
After the race in Monaco, George and Alonso exchanged helmets. Alonso scribbled on Russell’s helmet, “George, you rock!! Future world champ”.
Alonso adds that Russell had scored a Q2 finish at all six qualifyings this year which was highly impressive.
“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,” he said.
“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,” he concluded.
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