Russell finished 10th and went into the closing stages of the race on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring, which put him on the cusp of Williams’ first points since the 2019 German GP and his first score with the team.
But the Brit faced a late attack from Alonso, who recovered from 14th on the grid and entered the battle for 10th place with less than 10 laps to go. Russell managed to outrun Alonso several times at Turn 4 and defend himself against the Alpine rider as they drove side by side at Turn 6, only to be overtaken with five laps to go.
Russell said after the race that he was happy to have held his own against Alonso, but felt powerless to prevent the two-time F1 World Champion from overtaking due to the difference in pace between the Williams and the Alpine.
Alonso previously commented on Russell, calling him a future world champion and smiling when asked by Motorsport.com about the fight after the race.
“It was very intense, unfortunately only for one point, but it felt like it was the last round of the championship for us,” said Alonso. “At some point it was gold for him and for us after 14th place on the grid. It was nice.
“When I saw it was George, I was in a way a little sad that the fight had to be with him.
George Russell, Williams FW43B, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
“I think he will have the opportunity to be on the podium and fight for race wins, I think if he moves to Mercedes. I enjoyed today. A point from 14th place on the grid was not to be expected, as our simulations this morning were a bit more pessimistic than P10. I’ll take the point. “
Alonso’s rise to 10th marked his fourth straight points result after a frustrating qualifying session in which the Spaniard lost his last effort in the second quarter after hitting traffic in the last sector.
“The pace was very good in the race today,” added Alonso. “The car didn’t just run well yesterday. I think it was today too, so we seem to be more competitive this weekend for a number of reasons.
“If you start in your right position in qualifying, I think P5 or P6 were possible. And today, if you are P11 or P12 on lap one, you can still finish P8 or P7 from 14th place onwards, so it was positive to see. “
