Alexander Albon finally got his elusive podium in the pinnacle of motorsport and in doing so has no doubt silenced some of his critics. The Tuscan Grand Prix was eventful in many ways and made many headlines but it is unlikely that any were read by Alex Albon seeing how the Red Bull Racing driver has admitted that he avoids reading what the media writes so as to not be distracted by any speculation over his future. 

Red Bull Racing has a reputation as being ruthless with their driver line up – just ask Daniil Kvyat or Pierre Gasly. So it is little wonder that many people were predicting yet another change for the driver to line up opposite Max Verstappen.  

The rumour mill had only gotten louder following the performance of Pierre Gasly in the sister team AlphaTauri and as such this has put a spotlight on the proud racer driving under the flag of Thailand.   

Alex Albon has very much been a ‘Sunday performer’ in that he carves his way through the field so well on race day and scores some steady points. Then, as we all know so well by now, last week in Mugello came the first podium for the under fire Red Bull racer.  

Even though Red Bull Racing are being labelled as ruthless in their handling of chopping and changing racers – this year appears to be different with a clear vote of confidence coming from the team. No wonder upon the crossing the line Alex Albon made his thanks clear to his team saying on the team radio: 

“Thanks to everyone, thanks for sticking with me!” 

Now, Alex Albon has spoken to motorsport.com about the speculation he faces: 

“I don't look at the media,” he said. “I know there's always going to be talk about it. It's a hot topic for you guys. You kind of just move on from it." 

“My trust and my confidence comes from speaking to Christian or whoever, or Dr Marko personally. And I feel a lot of support from both of them, from this whole team as well. 

“Certainly, I'm relaxed. I know I need to improve, I want to improve and I'm keen and I'm motivated to do that. 

“So with all the support from the guys around me, I'm happy with where I am in the team, and it's more you could say the media that creates the noise.” 

As the famous saying goes ‘if you have northing nice to say, say nothing’, well Albon clearly feels if there is nothing nice to read then read nothing.  

“It's just one of those things. It's like, what's the point of looking at your phone if it's negative, you know? There's not really any point. I'd rather use that time to have dinner, go on Netflix, or whatever.” 

Obviously, it is not all doom and gloom for Albon with many fans supporting him and setting up social media pages for his cats! However, Albon is aware that this is all part of the show and should not be considered too deeply: 

“It's obviously nice to have good comments, but at the same time you just have to realise it's the name of the game. And there's always going to be talk, there's always going to be comments. And you could definitely say this year there's more of that kind of thing going on.” 

“At the end of the day, I know what matters is my performance. That's what I'm focused on. I'm not focused on the other stuff." 

Another saying well recited is that of ‘You’re only as good as your last race.’ Well, a podium in Italy looks pretty good to me – so let’s see what Russia brings this talented racer this weekend.  

https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/17153/f1-tuscan-gp-hamilton-039-s-front-brake-fire-explained