Nyck de Vries, former AlphaTauri Formula 1 driver, has expressed his disappointment and frustration with his ex-teams, taking a direct shot at Red Bull in particular.
In an interview with Italian media, de Vries discussed his unexpected departure from the Red Bull Racing sister team and criticized the decision-makers involved. He admitted that the news caught him completely off guard.
Marko explains the switch
Red Bull’s Motorsport Manager, Helmut Marko, has shed light on the reasons behind Nyck de Vries’ abrupt departure from AlphaTauri. While Daniel Ricciardo’s performance played a part in the decision, it was not the primary factor.
The transition from de Vries to Ricciardo happened swiftly, taking only a matter of hours to finalize. However, the Dutchman had been grappling with a crisis for some time, struggling to deliver satisfactory results and consistently lagging behind his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
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No improvement needed action
In an interview with ‘De Telegraaf’, Marko elaborated on the rationale behind the move. Despite two races remaining before the summer break, Marko felt compelled to take action due to the lack of progress.
“What is the point of two more races if there is no improvement? Nyck is a nice guy, but he didn’t have the speed,” Marko explained.
Even without Ricciardo’s impressive test performance, the change at AlphaTauri would have been deemed necessary. The Australian driver, alongside Tsunoda, now carries the responsibility of revitalizing the struggling Scuderia AlphaTauri.
Marko refrained from commenting on whether this move could lead to a potential challenge to Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull in the near future.
The focus now shifts to Ricciardo, who must prove himself against Tsunoda. Marko believes that the Japanese driver is being underestimated, highlighting the competitiveness within the team.
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Brundle: Sympathy for de Vries
Martin Brundle expressed sympathy for the Dutchman, acknowledging his inclusion in the list of Red Bull drivers who have faced difficulties in their careers. Brundle recognized the challenges de Vries has encountered, particularly in dealing with a challenging car and competing against a more experienced teammate.
Brundle further noted the signs of desperation he observed in de Vries’ driving during recent races. Despite these struggles, Brundle firmly believes that de Vries possesses greater potential and talent than his recent performances may suggest.
“He’s not even had half a season, in what is quite clearly a difficult car – his team-mate’s a lot more experienced,” added the former Grand Prix driver.
“Has it gone well for Nyck? No. Quite clearly to me, desperation has crept into his driving in recent races, quite a lot of desperation.
“He’s got into some skirmishes he shouldn’t have been in, and it’s just been really sad to watch because I think he’s better than that.
“I feel sorry for him that he hasn’t had more time and more support.”
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Ricciardo Red Bull bound?
Brundle then speculated that Ricciardo may have agreed to the AlphaTauri deal with the understanding that it could lead to future opportunities:
“Daniel has always talked about losing his mojo and needing to get his enthusiasm back, so I didn’t think he would take this unless there was another deal attached to it, a ‘you do this and then we’ll do that down the line’.”
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de Vries hits back at Red Bull
Ex-Alpha Tauri driver Nyck de Vries has nothing positive to say about his former employers having become a pawn in this round of Red Bull musical chairs.
In an interview with Gazetta, the Dutchman commented on his sudden departure from the sister team of constructors’ champions Red Bull Racing, and took aim at the decision makers:
“In fact, it took me completely by surprise. I wasn’t expecting it,” the paper claims de Vries said immediately after his release.
He allegedly went on to reveal an explosive detail about his contract:
“I signed a multi-year contract and was promised the second Red Bull seat in 2025!”
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“You stole Hamilton’s 8th title!”
The Dutchman is not surprised by this approach, however, and goes one step further by bringing in the ‘live artillery’ in the form of an H-Bomb comment.
“I’m disappointed but not surprised by the way you stole Lewis Hamilton’s eighth title!” Gazzetta claims,
De Vries is alluding to the 2021 title battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the latter in the final lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi due to a questionable safety car decision by then race director Michael Masi.
It is not yet known if Red Bull will comment on de Vries’ comments.
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Clearly bitter & waited for the suitable moment to hit back, although I doubt he would’ve necessarily got promoted to the main team in 2025.
Yeah, he wouldn’t. Those are just some fake news, not a single source to confirm it
Sad boy
Not surprised that Red Bull sacked him .. this is an f1 team that needs to cheat to win a title so anything else that they do will ultimately be unscrupulous…how can they ruin the young mens f1 career like that.. they could of at least waited till end of the season..well what goes around comes…..
Lets be honest, Yuki is a mediate driver. If it wasnt for Honda he wouldnt be driving for the team. Nyck should have passed him by miles by now. Yes, he did not get the chance he should have gotten but he surely didn’t deliver either.
If you call beeing better is cheating then you are right.
there is a credible source
https://twitter.com/KazuneZKZ/status/1678827515601645578
One of the worst f1drivers I have ever seen in decades.
Leaving is hard to do, but you got to make it happen if you want to stay and de varies didn’t. Taking a swipe at Red Bull is only expected but bringing 2021 back into it is a bit off especially when he was nothing to do with F1 and racing in lower formulas.
I did think he was a good guy but as he has gone running back to Toto I am not to sure. Or was that Totos plan all along ?????
They could have gave him a bit more time but it doesn’t surprise me because Red Bull seem to go through drivers like beans on toast 😉🏴
Nyck was speaking on Toto’s behalf during the 2021 season, always standing next to Wolff in the pit box. I was a bit surprised to see him join AT when he was so obviously a Mercedes driver waiting for his chance. Now he is burning bridges and I think he is killing his carreer by being so bitter. He should self reflect and improve himself. Any F1 fan could see that he performed very poorly this season. That is OK if you combine poor performance and mistakes with moments of brilliance. but he has been performing poorly all the time.
Isn’t it good that some F1 drivers have got the balls to say the truth about redball and how they got the L,H 8th world title from cock face hornets cheating ozzy mate
Hope that one day you will be able to move on and stop crying about 2021 even two years later
Gosh man get on with it
First, these comments say a lot more about Nick than they do about RB. It was ok as long as they gave him a seat? Second, if you didn’t know your seat was at risk, you are more naive than any F1 fan out there. Helmut is nothing if not blunt and transparent! Third, be a man for heavens same! You have no good results, period! Tough? Yes but fair and you know it. You sound (and drive) like a little school boy. When you grow up, maybe you can come back to a Williams or Haas…
I think this bitter reaction is bad for his carreer. Future teams will think twice employing a driver who responds like this days after he was sacked. The F1 world is harsh, they employ the best of the best drivers and if you don’t convince anyone in the first 10 races of a season, so you show not a glimmer of hope, it is over as quickly as that.
What I find ironic is suddenly F1 pundits, who have been extremely critical and suggesting Nyck would be fired soon, are suddenly of the opinion that this is very harsh and they could at least have waited until the summer break or the end of the season to give him a chance.
Not surprised considering RedBulls past.
I can’t blame him for taking swipes at them.
He is a sacrificial lamb in their game, they know Perez can cause trouble, has the backing, so needs another angle to bring him back in line with the threat that Daniel has a race seat and once shows his pace, it’s a chip RedBull will use and let Perez know if he causes trouble for their golden boy he’s replaceable..
F1 is about money. Money comes from sponsors. Us peasant fans really have no idea what goes on behind closed doors. But, if the only time you are seen on TV is the 3 seconds it takes to pull over and slow down so the leaders can go by would upset me if I were a sponsor. We’ve all heard rumblings about Alpha Tauri leaving so who knows. Maybe DR helped ensure the money keeps rolling in?