George Russell believes Alex Albon is not being given a fair chance to show his true talent at Red Bull.
Albon finished behind Russell in Q2, meaning he did not advance to the final qualifying session with Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. Albon was also a long way off the pace of Verstappen at the Styrian Grand Prix.
Albon and Russell rose through the junior racing ranks together and Albon’s success in his early years has been well documented. When asked about Albon’s performance on Sky Sports, Russell gave a passionate defence of his friend.
“I’ve known Alex for the last 15 years, being in the same paddock as him,” he said. “He’s one of the best drivers we’ve all raced — Max [Verstappen], Charles [Leclerc], all of us will say it.
“He’s always been at the front in everything he’s done and I don’t know what the hell is going on. I feel really bad for him as he’s being made to look like an idiot and he’s absolutely not.
“He’s won in everything he’s done so I don’t know what’s going on, but they need to sort it out for him.”
Russell was one of the stars of qualifying for the second weekend in a row and he will line up 12th on the grid for tomorrow’s race, one place ahead of Albon. The Englishman praised Williams for the progress it has made this year.
“It’s massive for them. All the guys, especially the guys here at the race track who come week in week out. They haven’t changed the job they do from the days of finishing on the podium in 2014, they saw the decline and then suddenly having two really tough years, it’s great to give that back to them.
“Really pleased for them for the hard work they put in. It’s been three races so far…. we know this is a track which suits our car best out of all of them, so I don’t think we need to get carried away with two really great qualifying performances, they were great for different weekends, but still a great morale booster.”
Russell’s teammate Nicholas Latifi will start 15th.