Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has revealed why Nyck de Vries has been dropped from the Formula One grid and replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.
It was announced on Tuesday that De Vries had lost his seat at AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s sister-team, after just 10 races following a series of poor performances that leave him bottom of the standings on zero points.
Ricciardo is set to drive for the team for the rest of the season, starting with the Hungarian Grand Prix a week on Sunday.
There had long been rumours that the Dutchman could be replaced mid-season but even so the news came as a shock given the timing and limited opportunities that he was given to prove himself in what is the worst car on the grid.
The Formula 2 and Formula E champion made his, what many felt was long-overdue, F1 debut in Italy last year and an excellent showing for Williams prompted AlphaTauri to snap him up for 2023 but the partnership has failed already.
‘We signed Nyck because he performed great at Monza last year,’ Marko, head of Red Bull’s driver development programme, told de Telegraaf.
‘We expected him to be at least equal to his teammate [Yuki Tsunoda] this year, but that wasn’t the case. Actually, he was always three-tenths slower. We didn’t see any improvement.
‘He is 28-years-old, has a lot of experience and also a lot of knowledge as a test driver in various F1 cars. I don’t think you can compare him to a young rookie.
‘At the end of April in Baku, he started the weekend well and I thought he was going to perform better, but then he crashed again. Unfortunately, he never once did a super lap that amazed us.
‘We had to do something. Why should we wait and what difference do two more races make, if you don’t see any improvement? Nyck is a very nice guy, but the speed just wasn’t there.
Regarding De Vries’ F1 future, the Austrian added: ‘That will be difficult, I think. But at the same time, I think he saw this coming. He can build a great career in long-distance racing.’
Reports claim that the decision to axe De Vries and bring back Ricciardo was made in just one phone call between Marko and Red Bull boss Christian Horner following the Aussie’s impressive showing at a recent test.
The 34-year-old drove the RB19 on Monday at Silverstone to test Pirelli’s new tyres for the 2024 season, setting lap times that would have seen him qualify on the front row of the grid for the British Grand Prix.
Tsunoda, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc are all reportedly on Red Bull’s radar, but Marko stressed that Ricciardo’s hiring was only about helping AlphaTauri, explaining: ‘His lap times were competitive on three different tyre sets.
‘If Ricciardo hadn’t had the speed, we would have considered something else. But AlphaTauri is not in a good position, last in the constructors’ standings, so we have to do something to bring something about.
‘That often happens after a driver change, Ricciardo brings new energy to the team.’
MORE : Daniel Ricciardo sent warning ahead of F1 return with AlphaTauri
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