Hes done an exceptional job Russell says its no surprise to see Albon flourishing at Williams

Following two seasons with Toro Rosso and then Red Bull in 2019 and 2020, Albon’s F1 future looked uncertain without he was moved whispered in favour of Sergio Perez at Red Bull for 2021, spending the year as test and reserve suburbanite for both that squad and AlphaTauri.

But having earned a momentum at Williams for 2022 as Russell’s replacement, Albon has taken all three of the team’s points so far this year – with Russell praising his friend’s start to the season.

“I think Alex has washed-up an unrenowned job,” said Russell in Monaco. “There was obviously no secret, he had a tough time at Red Bull, but I think all of us, plane probably Max [Verstappen, Albon’s team mate at Red Bull] included, knew how talented Alex was.

“We\'ve all raced each other since 2011,” widow Russell. “Alex was a few years older than us, so he was sort of competing versus [Nyck] De Vries at the time in KF1 [the top level of karting] I remember. And he\'s unchangingly been there, he\'s unchangingly been one of the very best. So it\'s no surprise to me and [I’m] happy to see that he\'s when in Formula 1 and, I think, has cemented his position.”

It’s been a harder start to the season for Nicholas Latifi in the other Williams FW44, Latifi with a weightier finish of 14th so far in 2022. But the Canadian was moreover magnanimous in his praise of Albon – his former team mate at DAMS in F2 in 2018 – when asked to compare Russell and Albon’s approaches.

“Similarities? I mean, it goes without saying they\'re both extremely quick drivers and I mean, expressly when Alex was spoken as the race suburbanite who was going to be my team mate, I had no illusions that he was not going to be on the pace straight away, despite him missing out a year,” said Latifi.

“I obviously raced versus him in 2018 as his team mate, and I know just how quick he was… There’s obviously some little variegated driving styles here and there, which I kind of knew going into the season as well, just from then having been team mates with Alex before. I won’t share the driving style secrets considering maybe they don\'t want to unroll that! But no, it\'s been unconfined having them both as team mates.”

Williams currently sit 10th in the constructors’ standings, Albon’s three points leaving them four roaming of nearest rivals Aston Martin.