Alfa Romeo better than Williams despite impact of "special" Russell

Alfa Romeo head of trackside engineering Xevi Pujolar has insisted the team has a faster car than Williams but earmarked George Russell's form as a cause for concern in the constructors' championship.

The Swiss-Italian outfit has scored two points so far this season to sit eighth in the standings but Williams has found a new lease of life, led by the British driver.

At the Austrian Grand Prix, Russell reached Q3 for the first time as a Williams driver and was three laps from adding the team's first point to the board since Germany in 2019 when Fernando Alonso found a way past the 23-year-old.

Asked if the Williams was now a better car than Alfa Romeo's C41, Pujolar replied: "It is quick on the straights, I confirm that! It is difficult to follow and pass on the straights. I think we have got the better race car.

"In qualifying, I have to say Russell is quite special. He is doing a good job in qualifying. We just need to work harder to do better. Overall, I will say in the race we are generally better in the race.

"[Austria] is a specific track and Silverstone will still not be easy but you can see we can fight and race them, not only Russell but with Alpine, Aston Martin so everything is very tight."

Alfa Romeo needs "one more step" for consistent points

The speed shown by Alfa Romeo so far this season has been impressive, particularly at the hands of Antonio Giovinazzi.

A string of bad luck has, however, left the team lighter on points than should be the case, with both Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen losing top 10s through car trouble, pit stop issues or penalties.

"The performance, I don't think has been disappointing," said Pujolar. "We are there with them [the midfield], we just need one more step.

"Everyone will always want to be better. From weekend to weekend, we did a step better and we improved our one timed lap performance and in the race, we are still there because we showed we are still fighting with them.

"For sure, [Williams] did one step forward in qualifying, not against us because they were in front of the Ferraris and many other teams as well, but then in the race as well, they weren't able to stay there.

"At the moment it is good on our side but we have to keep working hard because they are getting very strong."