Only two out of 20 Formula 1 drivers are still without points after the first four races of the season. AlphaTauri pilot Nyck de Vries is one of them. The Dutchman experienced a real nightmare start and is currently at the bottom of the rankings. A former racing driver believes that the 28-year-old already has to fear for his job.
Two 14th places, one 15th place, plus one retirement after a rookie mistake in Baku: Nyck de Vries messed up the season opener. Compared to teammate Yuki Tsunoda, the Dutchman is clearly at a disadvantage. His accident in Azerbaijan was the low point of a completely screwed up debut year for his new racing team.
Former Russian WEC driver Egor Orudzhev fears that the Dutchman could soon lose his job in view of this series of breakdowns. “If he continues like this, Helmut Marko will fire him,” Orudzhev said in an interview with “Championat”.
The Russian added that he expected a lot more from de Vries. “I thought he would drive better and be closer to Tsunoda. But so far the season has been a single failure,” Orudzhev criticized the AlphaTauri driver, who is also being counted on by other parties.
Ex-Formula 1 driver Jan Lammers also believes that de Vries has to improve as quickly as possible if he doesn’t want to be hit by the big Red Bull hammer. After all, it is well known how quickly the sporting management is willing to replace a driver who is not performing well.
“The last thing he needs” failure
“If Alonso or Hamilton make such a mistake, they’ll be forgiven immediately. Of course, they also have the reputation that something like that doesn’t happen to them. For Nyck, however, it’s the last thing he needs,” said Lammers in the “NOS” Conversation about his compatriot.
De Vries had the chance to show a good performance. “But he didn’t do it. The truth is: the car was [in Baku] good enough for a point. And if the car is good enough, but you still don’t get a point, when will you make it?” Lammers asked a question that the sporting leadership of AlphaTauri and Red Bull may soon ask themselves.