McLaren's Lando Norris is pleased to see his good friend George Russell be able "to race with some people" this season following Williams' improved form.
Russell made the Q2 cut two weekends in succession to qualify P12 in Styria and in Hungary, an impressive performance that wasn't lost on the F1 paddock.
The achievement is an indication of Williams' undeniable progress this season and a reflection of Russell's equally obvious talent.
"I’m definitely happy for him, that he’s at least having a chance to be able to race with some people," said Norris, quoted by Motorsport.com.
"I felt sorry for him last year, because he’s a nice guy, I get along well with him. He’s a very good driver. So where Williams were last season, it’s just disappointing to see him in that position.
"Williams in pre-season testing already made a big jump, and they looked pretty competitive from the off. They weren’t that far off of what we could do. So we were always expecting them to be quite quick [in Hungary].
"In all of our calculations we will expect them to be a competitor and people that could knock us out come Q2 or Q3, even. He obviously did a good job anyway."
On an absolute basis, Norris admitted it was hard to assess Russell's performance given teammate Nicholas Latifi's lack of experience.
"It’s hard to really compare and know how good he’s doing," added Norris. "He’s not going up against a driver who's been in F1 for four years or five years.
"So yeah, I guess that’s the only thing that’s hard to say how good of a job he’s doing. But at the same time it’s good to see that he’s up there, and Williams are back, competing for positions."
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