The biggest news in recent weeks has been everything that has happened within the Red Bull structure. To begin with, we know that Franz Tost will step down as team principal, while Laurent Mekies, who serves as Ferrari’s racing director, will take over from the 2024 Formula 1 season. Similarly, it has also been confirmed that the Italian team will change names next year.
After several weeks of speculation, it was announced that Nyck de Vries will no longer be AlphaTauri’s driver, as he only managed to compete with them for 10 races. His poor results were enough for Helmut Marko to decide to boot him out of the Italian team in order for 8-time Grand Prix winner, Daniel Ricciardo, to return as his replacement.
The decision to kick the Dutch driver out has been on everyone’s lips, as many people find this decision unsympathetic to the former Formula E champion. We know that this is what the top category of motorsport is like, however.
We also know that Red Bull often makes these types of decisions with its drivers. It happened in 2016 when Verstappen replaced Kvyat after only 4 races, it also happened in 2019 when Alex Albon replaced Pierre Gasly after the Frenchman had been behind the steering wheel of his Red Bull for just 12 races. And so, we can go on commenting on different occasions in which Red Bull decides to replace its drivers after half a season in the junior or senior team.
On the other hand, Daniel Ricciardo was also released from his contract last season, as the Australian driver had signed a long-term contract with McLaren. However, after a poor adaptation by the Australian, the British team decided to terminate his contract and not continue with him for this season. Being back in the sport must be extremely good for Ricciardo.
He has shared his thoughts on the Nyck De Vries situation and sympathisd with the Dutchman.
“If there is market movement, it’s normally during the break.
“I mean yeah, look, after what I’ve kind of gone through the last year, but also my age now and just knowing how this sport is, and being a bit more mature like, for sure, you feel for other drivers,” the Australian driver commented.
“We put our life’s work into this, so it’s one of those ones where I feel for Nyck.”
Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
It’s difficult to see a way for De Vries to get back into the sport after such a difficult run at AlphaTauri, but Ricciardo continued that he thinks the Dutch driver can do if he really wants it.
“I feel like he’s mature enough to understand the sport.
“And if he still wants it to work, I think he can get back up and make something happen,” the 8-time GP winner added.
Talking about his time away from Formula 1 after McLaren told him that the Australian will no longer be requiring his services, he said: “I look at me a year ago, I wasn’t sure if I would ever race in F1 car again, and a year later here I am. Things can happen.”
