Fernando Alonso has revealed George Russell and Max Verstappen were his main reasons to watch Formula 1 during his hiatus.

The two-time world champion has often spoken highly of the current Williams driver, even naming Russell as the driver he expects to lead the sport into the next generation.

Alonso also admitted sadness after denying George his first points for the Grove-based team in Austria, but that didn't change his impression of the Briton.

“Definitely very impressed,” he said.

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“I said also last year when I was following the sport that I think he has been very, very impressive with his performances in the Williams.

“We know that it is not a competitive package. It is better this year but I think he was putting in something special every weekend and that was nice to watch at home.

“That is something you always get impressed by.”

Russell is currently waiting to find out if he'll be making almost the biggest jump possible from the back to the very front of the grid with Mercedes in 2022.

However, he gave F1 a very strong glimpse of what he could do last year in Sakhir, substituting for Lewis Hamilton.

“The opportunity with the Mercedes… I think it was a real opportunity for everyone to watch what a driver with the talent of George can do with a winning car,” the Alpine driver added.

“He nearly won the first race at the first opportunity he had. That, I think, was proof for many people, not only a few, that we knew how good he was.

“That race in Bahrain was enough to open [the eyes] of millions of people.”

The other driver Alonso highlighted from last year was Max Verstappen predominantly for his ability to be the only driver to challenge Mercedes' domination.

"Last year, when I wasn’t racing, when I put the TV on, I put it on a little bit to see what Max was doing in that race because he was the only one who was going to do something," he told SoyMotor.com.

"You knew Bottas wasn’t going to upset Hamilton and you knew Hamilton would win if nothing weird happened.

"But…‘oh, Verstappen’. Whether he started on the front row, whether the car is going well…the charisma factor or whatever I think is important as well."

This season though, the Dutchman has a car capable of winning the championship for the first time in his career.

“I think it is very interesting from outside to follow and to watch,” Fernando said of Verstappen's fight with Hamilton.

“At least we don’t have like previous years that it was Lewis against Lewis and sometimes Valtteri [Bottas] but not often.

“At the moment we have a more interesting championship so we can follow with a little more adrenaline up until Abu Dhabi, which is a good thing.”