Nyck de Vries’ seat is hanging by a thread. The Dutch driver, who was one of the most coveted men on the driver market last season, has completed a very poor start to the season, being a long way from his AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
De Vries is, along with Logan Sargent, the only pilot who still has not scored after five grand prix, which has caused a big disappointment in the dome from Red Bull.
Over the past few weeks, rumors have spread around the paddock that de Vries could lose his seat in the coming weeks. Now, Helmut Marko, Red Bull adviser and head of the energy drink team’s pilot program has confirmed the rumors and has given the Dutchman a deadline to react.
“Nothing will happen in the next three races. We have spoken with Nyck and he has the same opinion: he must improve, reduce the gap with his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who is doing an excellent job, it is too wide” Marko stated in statements collected by ‘CarAndDriver’.
But the Austrian leader still does not consider de Vries redeemed, and assures that his future depends on his performance: “We have shown him a yellow card, but not yet the red one. If it improves, the hypothesis of a change of pilots would move away.”
Ricciardo will not be his substitute
The name that has sounded loudest to replace Nyck de Vries is that of Daniel Ricardo. The Australian, current Red Bull reserve driver, knows the AlphaTauri team perfectly, and some media have claimed that the Italian team even made him a seat for their car.
However, Marko assures that, in the case of dismissing de Vries, the Australian is not an option to consider, since his focus is on the Red Bull academy drivers.
“If, on the contrary, a change of drivers is necessary, we will turn to our squad of young drivers, not Daniel Ricciardo. Liam Lawson and Ayumu Iwasa are the potential candidates”, says Helmut Marko.
