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I have seen so much of this talked about today, I feel like I need to address it. Over the past few weeks, I have been quite vocal on social media and on the podcast about how underwhelming I have found Albon this season.
Yes, that's an opinion - like we're all entitled to - but looking at the facts like results and comparisons you can see that he has not performed as well as Max. That is fact. Sure, you can argue that Red Bull is a team heavily focused on Max and I would totally agree with you.
There is also the case that they treated Gasly poorly, dropped him at the first chance they could and now he's thriving at AlphaTauri. It must be tough being a 'number two' driver at Red Bull and I can sympathise with Alex for that.
However, I have seen so many accounts saying how rude, ruthless and disrespectful the media have been to Albon this year. I'm more than happy for examples to be given to show this, but from my personal experiences I have only seen journalists and broadcasters doing their job.
I spoke on the podcast about how we all know what a talented racer Albon is, but that unquestionably he needs to up his game. Every weekend he seems to make a mistake or get absolutely spanked by Max in terms of performance.
We would not be good at our jobs, if we saw a pilot of the second-best car on the grid, whose teammate is consistently on the podium all year, running around in eighth or ninth and going "yeah well done mate, great job".
But to then get inundated with messages, asking me "do you not think Alex is a nice guy?" makes me laugh. Of course, I am sure Alex is a total sweetheart and I know he has a lot of admires for that exact reason, but we aren't here judging personalities; this is racing.
Would you expect football pundits not to have discussions if Harry Kane missed out on half a dozen attempts to score a goal in a match? Of course not, so why do you see racing so differently?
If you think I am not going to critique his driving from a race weekend because he is a 'nice person', then I'm sorry but I don't think F1 is the sport for you. It's ruthless and selfish, where it's frequently said that "nice guys finish last".
This might come across as savage, and if you are wanting to watch the sport to solely support your favourite drivers then that's great and I wish you the best of luck with that, but I'm afraid media is a big part of this sport and we have got a job to do.
I've grown up watching motorsport. It's my absolute world and I don't know where I would be without it. I have so much respect and admiration for every single driver but please understand that it's never going to be sunshine and rainbows all the time - just like any other sport.