“To be honest, it still continues and I stand by it. I still feel like it is a learning year. So many people forget that it is still my first year and because of that I do still feel like I am improving. Of course, by this point I feel more settled and it is a new team, but I am more confident in let’s say Formula 1 itself, but at the same time I know there is still room there for improvement.”

After just 12 races as an F1 driver, Alex was thrust into a car that had already won two races this season. Walking into the paddock in Belgium, everything was new for a driver still finding his feet, and he admits it was a lot to take in, but he let his driving do the talking.

“It was mixed because obviously on my side I wanted to kind of shut everything off and just focus on the racing and the driving. But of course, just the way the sport is people want to see me, media need to see me, Red Bull will need to show me and it was just a very stressful few days.

“That is why coming after Sunday to finish off how it did - with fifth place - just felt like it was good to finish it like that and shut down a lot of the talk. At that point, some people most probably feel like Danii [Kvyat] was the right choice at that time. At least that result kind of said OK … I wasn’t a terrible choice let’s say it like that! It was a stressful weekend, but I was really happy how it played out.”

For a rookie driver, confidence can take time to build up. Alex’s softly-spoken demeanour belies a self-confidence that he called upon to help him get up to speed as quickly as possible at Red Bull, as he has started with five consecutive top-six finishes.

“I just asked the guys to give me as much free time as I can because, of course, the media stuff was hectic, but all I wanted to do was have a good result and I knew that was really what I needed to do, nothing else really mattered.