Alex Albon has cited Romain Grosjean and Pierre Gasly as examples of why he ignores the external critics of his performance at Red Bull.
After a solid first nine races in the second half of 2019, the Thai driver really struggled in his first full season at the team, finishing tied-sixth in the Drivers’ Championship with less than half the points of teammate Max Verstappen.
Albon’s difficulty in adapting to this year’s Red Bull has seen him face criticism and pressure from pundits, although the team has consistently supported the 24-year-old.
And asked if the constant digs affect how he enjoys F1, Albon tried to play it down.
“Possibly. It’s never fun to see negativity everywhere you look but it’s part of the game really,” he said.
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“Where I get the enjoyment from is working with the engineers, with the people close to me and finding improvements.
“[But] we are people with 20 of the best jobs in the world in my opinion. It’s a small price to pay. It’s not like I’m sitting here with a violin in my hands – I still enjoy what I do.”
Albon also highlighted the fickle nature of pundits and fans, who are critical at one moment but can change on a dime.
“It is hard,” he continued. “Even with Romain [Grosjean] at the start, I thought ‘where is all this hate coming from?’ and then everything switched [after his crash in Bahrain]. Also with Pierre Gasly, it’s turned for the better. It swings and it goes.
“On my side, it doesn’t help. There’s no performance in looking at Instagram or Twitter. I try to stay away from it as much as I can and honestly that’s the focus,” Albon admitted.
“The spotlight has been on me from the first race this season. Even when I didn’t think it should be, it was.
“By this point I’m so used to it, it doesn’t actually affect me that much. I get updates on the latest forecast and that’s it really.”
The big question now for Albon is whether Red Bull’s support will extend into 2021, with strong rumours he will be replaced by Sergio Perez for next season.