Nyck de Vries, a Dutch rising star in the world of motorsport, has been making waves with his impressive performances in the Formula 2 championship. As a former member of the Mercedes junior driver program, de Vries has been honing his skills and showcasing his talent on the path to Formula 1, which culminated in an impressive drive for Williams at the Italian Grand Prix last year.

Considering de Vries’ impressive credentials, an association with AlphaTauri proved to be a fruitful partnership. AlphaTauri, as the sister team of Red Bull Racing, had a reputation for nurturing young talent and providing them with a platform to showcase their abilities.

 

Given de Vries’ track record of success, a seat at AlphaTauri became a stepping stone for him to elevate his career and potentially move up to the senior Red Bull Racing team in the future.

Well, that was the plan. This has not come to fruition in 2023 Formula 1 with the Dutchman failing to yet score a point in F1. With that in mind, the Red Bull management declared that de Vries needs to step up or lose his seat.

 

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Verstappen supports Nyck de Vries under pressure

A fellow Dutchman has felt the need to step in. Two-time world champion Max Verstappen believes that all his compatriot Nyck de Vries needs is one good result to get back on track after a complicated start to the season for the AlphaTauri driver. 

De Vries began his F1 career this year with the AlphaTauri team, but so far the Dutchman has yet to score a single point and has been involved in a number of incidents in the first eight races of the season.

Recently, Dr Helmut Marko confirmed in an interview with an Austrian newspaper that Nyck de Vries’ performance has been unsatisfactory so far, putting even more pressure on Yuki Tsunoda’s team-mate.

 

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Fernando made his feelings quite clear to Yuki 😆#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/CF7oNoECD3

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 26, 2023

 

“Just needs one result…”

But Max Verstappen, who sat next to Nyck De Vries at Thursday’s press conference in Austria, believes his compatriot only needs one result to get back on track.

“I think we all know that this is motorsport in general. You have to perform and do your best,” said Max Verstappen on Thursday in Spielberg, Austria.

“After that, you can’t force things either, so it’s about working with your team and gaining as much experience as possible as well.”

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what people say about you. It’s about how you learn from your weekends and how you learn from your mistakes, as we all do.”

 

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“You just have to get the best out of the car, feel the most comfortable, but above all not force it. You have to talk to your engineers to find out what can be done better and what to work on.”

“You can get these results, and if you get a good result, it maybe leads to another one, and as a result you feel more comfortable.”

“At the end of the day, it’s a lot of things that have to come together. You don’t need to stress about it too much, you just need to work hard with collaborators who can really make a difference and influence your performance.”

“But I don’t need to tell Nyck that because he’s got a lot of experience. And that goes for everyone, not just Nyck. Every weekend you have to work with your engineers.”

 

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Nyck: “Mistakes happen”

Nyck De Vries was also asked what he thought he needed to do to improve his performance. The former Formula 2 champion said, “There’s no need to force anything.”

“Whenever you try hard or try to force something that’s not ready, it’s not going to happen, so mistakes will happen.”

“The key is to keep doing what we’re doing, keep focusing on the work, keep being patient. And I think the potential is there, so it’s only a matter of time before things come together.”

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