Russell hails 'exceptional job' by Williams replacement Albon

George Russell has heaped praise on his Williams replacement Alex Albon for his performances in Formula 1 this year, saying he’s doing an “exceptional job”.

Russell spent three seasons at Williams before earning a call-up to drive for Mercedes alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton this year, leaving his seat at the Grove-based outfit vacant.

With Williams beginning its search for a replacement driver, Russell recommended in his final months at the team that it should consider Albon for a 2022 seat.

Albon had dropped off the F1 grid after his difficult 2020 season with Red Bull, but the Anglo-Thai driver has impressed on his return to the series.

Despite this year’s Williams struggling to fight for the points-paying positions, Albon has two top-10 finishes after pulling off an unconventional strategy in Melbourne before finishing P9 in Miami.

Russell was full of praise for the job Albon has done so far this year, believing he has proved any doubters he deserves to be in F1.

“Alex has done an exceptional job,” Russell said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.

“I think there was obviously no secret he had a tough time that Red Bull, but I think all of us, even probably Max [Verstappen] included, just knew how talented Alex was.

“We’ve all raced each other since 2011. Alex was a few years older than us. So he was sort of competing against [Nyck] de Vries at the time, in KF1, I remember and he’s always been there.

“He’s always been one of the very best, so it’s no surprise to me, and I think happy to see that he’s back in Formula 1, and that he has cemented his position.”

Albon has had the upper hand on Williams team-mate Nicholas Latifi in the opening seven races, qualifying ahead of him six times and netting all of