At Monaco this year, Russell became the latest driver with whom Alonso swapped helmets to add to the collection on display in his museum in Oviedo, northern Spain.
On average, the Williams is the ninth quickest car over one lap this season.
With a lap that will go down in history as one of the most impressive of all time, Russell put the Williams on the front row.
Russell is not all about one-lap pace, though.
The car did not fit him – it gave him pains in the shoulder and he had to wear driving boots a size too small to get his feet into the cockpit.
Hopefully, when he looks back having been extremely successful, he will realise how much he did learn from a difficult couple of years.
Until, that is, last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
Bottas has been an excellent team player and, for the most part, a compliant and supportive partner for Hamilton, who said he had felt obligated to defend his current team-mate.
Hamilton is statistically the greatest driver of all time, and would back himself against anyone.
He has a contract for at least another two years at Mercedes, but just by virtue of biology he is closer to the end of his career than the beginning.
He will be competing against the best driver on the grid – possibly the best driver ever – in a competitive car every weekend, and it can’t be known for sure how he will cope.