As quickly as he came, he will leave. According to German sources, Nyck de Vries’ days in Formula 1 are numbered. The Dutchman has two farewell races ahead of him, after which he will be replaced in the cockpit by an old friend, Daniel Ricciardo.
When Nyck de Vries stepped in for Alex Albon at Monza a year ago, he stunned the formula paddock with his drive. Today, however, it seems that it was just a kind of anomaly in the performances of the Formula E champion, because in the position of the main driver of AlphaTauri, he could not repeat anything similar. Just not consistently.
Nyck de Vries is the last rider in the championship standings with a clean record. He is also pulling the short end of the stick in the internal fight with Júki Cunoda. He loses 8:2 in the qualifiers and in the race, against Cunod, whom Pierre Gasly easily beat last year. The merciless hand of Helmut Mark has a job to do.
The first speculations about the possible dismissal of Nyck de Vries began to appear already in May. Even then, Daniel Ricciardo’s name was mentioned as a suitable replacement for the Dutch driver, but Helmut Marko did not allow this possibility, saying that Ricciardo “he wants to return to the top team”. AlphaTauri is not a top team, so there was no point in even thinking about it. Australian according to So needed to find: “I know exactly where he would like to go.”
Ricciardo already knows this too and knows which door he will try to get there. Ahead of the weekend at Silverstone, he declared that he was willing to step into the AlphaTauri single-seater if it helped pave his way back to Red Bull. If he shows that he still hasn’t forgotten how to drive — which he can try to do as part of an internal fight with Júki Cunoda, who, according to the bosses of the red bulls, is not yet ready for the top single seat — then he can become Max Verstappen’s colleague again in 2025 at the latest.
However, the task of AlphaTauri is to educate young riders, noted Franz Tost, with whom the new executive director also agrees Peter Bayer: “That is the wish of the shareholders.” So why might they consider Ricciardo? “Performance is decisive. If the younger riders are not ready yet…”
Red Bull’s talent pool has dried up for now. Tost he praises the performance of Liam Lawson in Japanese Super Formula, as well as Ajum Iwasu and Isack Hadjar in F2, but this pair does not even have a super license yet. “First of all, we need to find a driver who is available to us, and secondly, mature and trained enough to be ready to drive in an F1 single-seater.”
“Iwasa is doing a good job, Hadjar is doing a good job, but it’s still early for them. Sooner or later they will join our team, but if it’s too early for them, maybe we should find another solution.” continued the current AlphaTauri boss.
Ani Franz Tost, ani Peter Bayer however, they will not decide the whole matter. They can tell Helmut Mark their opinion, but that’s it. “Decisions are made by top management. This certainly fits better into the competencies of dr. Mark.”
Helmut Marko has already been asked if Nyck de Vries will race after the summer break at the Dutch GP: “When is Zandvoort? I’ll tell you when we’re in Zandvoort!” he declared. “We are reassessing his performance. If it becomes necessary, we will make a decision.”
We will reconsider… Or have we already reconsidered?
Helmut Marko, who succeeded de Vries in AlphaTauri despite Christian Horner’s disapproval, is said to have already paid his dues. He revealed something over the weekend Ralph Schumacher. “I am quite sure that the decision has already been made. He did his job properly, so it’s a shame that he probably won’t drive at Zandvoort, but on the other hand it’s good for Daniel Ricciardo and the team.”
However, it is not only Ralf Schumacher who claims that de Vries will not live to see his home race in Formula 1. The German portal has the same information F1-insider.com. “F1-insider.com has learned that Daniel Ricciardo will replace de Vries after the summer break. In the second half of the season, the goal is to compare Red Bull junior Júki Cunoda with Ricciardo, who has already beaten Vettel once.”
For Ricciardo, words also add to the favorable scenario Helmut Marka, who wants to test it already this week at the Pirelli tire tests. The team is satisfied with how Ricciardo is performing on the simulator. “When he came back to us from McLaren, we didn’t even recognize him. But we got him together and now he’s doing a good job on the simulator.”
We probably won’t have to wait long for official confirmation of these reports. However, Red Bull’s merciless program is quite kind to another driver — Sergio Pérez. In the past, both Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly flew out of Red Bull, although they did not have a championship car, but their Mexican successor has nothing to fear even in a dominant car.
“His place is not in danger,” he assured Marko. “His replacement is not necessary.”
2023-07-10 19:26:15
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