Nyck de Vries drove his last race for AlphaTauri. The Dutch driver will be sent away within half a season by Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s top advisor who is responsible for driver policy. Daniel Ricciardo is De Vries’ replacement, several sources confirm to De Telegraaf.
It is a tough intervention by doctor Marko, who has often proven to stand on his stripes in the past. For example, Daniil Kvyat was replaced by Max Verstappen after four races in 2016 at top team Red Bull, and his then teammate Pierre Gasly had to give up his place to Alex Albon during the summer break in 2019.
De Vries is judged on the disappointing results. He may not even finish the first half of the season in Hungary and Belgium. His home race in Zandvoort, immediately after the summer break, also passes the nose of the former champion in Formula 2 and Formula E.
Dream came true
For de Vries, his permanent place at AlphaTauri was a dream come true. As a Mercedes reserve driver, he filled in for Alex Albon at Williams last year in Monza and drove straight into the points with ninth place. Things then went quickly and within a week he sat down with Helmut Marko, who was looking for a successor at AlphaTauri for Pierre Gasly, who is leaving for Alpine.
So that became the driver from Uitwellingerga, so that for the first time in history there were two Dutch drivers on the grid at the start of the Formula 1 season. So that only lasted a few months. After ten races for AlphaTauri, De Vries has to give way again. His best result was a twelfth place in Monaco.
No trust with it
Teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who is in his third season with Red Bull’s sister team, finished tenth twice and thus scored two World Cup points for the time being. Last weekend at Silverstone, the drivers finished sixteenth and seventeenth on behalf of the disappointing AlphaTauri. Although the car is not competitive this season and De Vries has in fact only just started, there is no longer any confidence in the management that he can turn the tide.
Ricciardo returns to the grid after six months, after his contract with McLaren was terminated early. This season, the Australian (34) was the third driver at Red Bull. In 2012 and 2013 he already drove for AlphaTauri, then Toro Rosso, after which he made the switch to the flagship. This Tuesday, Ricciardo has been driving a Formula 1 car all day during a tire test on behalf of Red Bull. Next week he will be back at the Hungaroring as a driver in the royal class, at the expense of De Vries.