Alonso 'sad' to take point from Russell in Austria

Luck simply isn't on the side of George Russell or Williams. The Austrian Grand Prix was just five laps too long for Williams to score a point for the first time since 2019. With five laps to go, Fernando Alonso grabbed tenth place, taking one point away from Russell.

Battle for the final point

The weekend got off to a great start for the young Briton when he qualified ninth. Because of a grid penalty for Sebastian Vettel, Russell was promoted to start eighth. In the race however the Williams couldn't keep up with the pace and Russell started to fall back.

At the end of the race the Williams driver found himself back in tenth place and a point seemed possible until Alonso appeared at his tail. For about five laps Russell managed to keep the Spanish Alpine driver behind him, but in the end he had to acknowledge the superiority of the two-time world champion who managed to get the last point.

Sad Alonso

After the race, Alonso spoke to Autosport about the fight with Russell."It was very intense, unfortunately only for one point, but it felt like it was the last round of the championship for us." He did feel sad, however, that it was Russell from whom he took the point."In a way, when I saw it was George, I felt a bit sad that the battle had to be with him."

Alonso has often praised the Williams driver and did not hide his appreciation after the Austrian Grand Prix. "I think in the future he will have the chance to be on the podium and fight for race victories if he goes to Mercedes," he said.