Alex Albon has played down the growing criticism over his performance as he marks one year at Red Bull at the Belgian Grand Prix.
As patience ran out with Pierre Gasly, the Thai driver was given a nine-race audition for the seat alongside Max Verstappen starting 12 months ago at Spa, going on to finish in the top six at all-but-one of those Grands Prix, with Brazil being the only exception.
His debut showing for the senior team in Belgium was also one of the most impressive, recovering from a grid penalty for new engine parts to finish fifth after a bold move on Sergio Perez on the final lap.
“I was pretty nervous going into my first race with the team,” he recalled. “Obviously you want to do a good job because you want to make a good impression.
“I didn’t know anyone, and I’d only been in F1 for six months with Toro Rosso, so going to a big team was obviously very new to me.
“Now I know everyone, I’m settled in with the team, we’re making progress each weekend, so it’s nice to go back to the circuit where it all started.
“It’s gone fast, that’s for sure. It definitely doesn’t feel like a year.”
Looking ahead, Albon then explained the benefits of returning to Spa for the second time with Red Bull.
“I’m looking forward to this weekend, I can take what I learned from last year’s race and apply it to this one so there’s a bit of experience that I can take with me which is nice,” he said.
“We already had ideas last year and I remember how the car felt. Of course it’s a different car this year but it’s still got similar traits so it’ll be good to compare and see what we can do.
“As we’ve seen this season, we’ve had some really good races and Spa is good for overtaking so I’m excited to hit the track and get going,” he added. “Hopefully we can do a good job this year.”
And a stronger weekend in the wheel tracks of Verstappen is what Albon needs as criticism is growing over his inability to challenge the Dutchman.
In qualifying two weeks ago in Spain, Alex was 0.7s slower than his sister Red Bull, one of the closer gaps between the pair over a single lap this season.
And that often leads to questions over his future at Red Bull or recommendations of drivers who could do a better job.
“I think it’s just the way racing is,” Albon recently told The Race of that scrutiny. “I think it’s never going to change. I see they’re always going to be talking about the Red Bull second seat. I think that’s almost an inevitability.
“I don’t think it’s even so much coming from Red Bull it’s just coming from the perception of Red Bull kind of being Red Bull. Which I think is unfair.
“It’s new, obviously, I haven’t been under fire in my racing career until pretty much the last few races.
“It’s been OK. At the end of it, everyone’s going to talk, that’s kind of expected. I’m guessing especially with lockdown and everything, there’s always going to be a bit more talk than other times.”
As Albon noted, Red Bull has been keen to show their support by praising his race performances, which have been particularly good when he’s started down the field.
He also then pointed to the commitment the team is showing to help him improve as further proof the media talk doesn’t reflect reality.
“When you look at Red Bull, how they work and operate, it’s super impressive,” he said.
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“I wasn’t experienced and I’m still learning right now. It’s kind of bringing that through and learning and even now I have Simon [Rennie as race engineer], I’m still learning about things about F1, about the tyres, about set-up.
“There are so many things you can change in a Formula 1 car, and it’s almost establishing which direction you want to go, which area is going to fix it.
“It’s that communication with the guys that’s really what’s going to get you going in the right way. So, yeah, there’s not really any secret sauce or recipe to it.”
That being said, for a team desperately trying to end Mercedes’ run of domination, for the most part, it is doing so one-handed through Verstappen.
Of course right now Red Bull doesn’t really have the car to compete with the German manufacturer consistently.
But when they do, Albon does need to be there to capitalise, as he was in Austria, to try and steal points from the Brackley-based team.
If not, then attention-grabbing comebacks through the field won’t be enough to survive at Red Bull forever.
