Argentine race driver Franco Colapinto spoke on Thursday about the rumors linking another driver with the seat he occupies at Alpine F1. The 22-year-old motorist has had mixed results since taking over from Australia’s Jack Doohan in May, but seemed to remain confident he can impress the team when talking to the press ahead of the British Grand Prix.

“F1 is like that,” Colapinto told ESPN. “When a team is struggling, and I think we are stuck, there’s always rumors. The press talks, the fans talk… I think we have to focus on continuing working, carrying on as a team.”

Colapinto has been in the firing line recently, with Alpine executive advisor and de facto team principal Flavio Briatore criticizing the team’s performance. This has fed rumors the Renault-owned team is looking for replacements, with the official F1 site saying Alpine had inquired about the availability of 10-time race winner and current Mercedes reserve Valtteri Bottas

However, the Argentine driver didn’t shy away from making sharp remarks of his own.

“Our goal, before anything else, is improving the car and feeling a bit more comfortable,” he said. “When they give me a top-running car, we’ll be able to pass better judgements. If I’m no longer making the work they want or getting the points they expect, we’ll see. For now, the goal is to improve.”

Last week’s Austrian Grand Prix proved another difficult weekend to navigate for Colapinto. The Argentine driver struggled to find the correct setup for his car throughout the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, at one point finishing bottom of the pack, and things didn’t improve much in the race, despite a solid performance on qualifying.

Colapinto remained focused on the positives, arguing the car has felt “a lot better” since the Canadian GP weekend and saying the team has “taken a step forward” ever since. He argued he was to focus now on practice sessions on Fridays, and stop making mistakes in the weekend opener to “find the limits.”

“It probably won’t be the easiest track for us, due to how important the [engine] will be,” he said. “We’re working hard to improve, especially on my part. The team has been very supportive and never loses motivation. That is important. In this sport you can go up or down very quickly. As a team we are moving forward and trying to do our best.”

Rumors of a replacement sparked a big showing of support by Argentine fans. Tuesday saw the hashtag “SiempreConEl43,” (always with number 43, by its Spanish translation) became a trending topic in Argentina. The hashtag was also picked up by some of Colapinto’s sponsors.