"Difficult situation for Nyck de Vries," says Red Bull Team Principal Christain Horner
Jul 19, 2023
Mogyorod [Hungary], July 19 : Dutch Formula 1 driver Nyck de Vries who was driving for AlphaTauri has been replaced by Daniel Ricciardo for the rest of the season. Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner said that it is a difficult situation for Nyck de Vries.
28-year-old Nyck de Vries has been performing below par and was not able to match the performance level of his teammate Yuku Tsunoda. His poor form forced him to leave AlphaTauri.
Former Red Bull, McLaren and Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo have been chosen as the replacement for the Dutch driver for the rest of the season.
According to the Formula 1 website, Reb Bull team principal Christain Horner said, “It was becoming obviously a difficult situation for Nyck de Vries, but there was a high expectation on him because, whilst inexperienced in Formula 1, he's obviously a very experienced driver."
He added, “I think there was a general feeling that Nyck wasn't quite hitting the mark. And then the question was, you know, what are the options if we were to switch things around? And from a Red Bull Racing perspective, the most interesting option for me was to see how Daniel performs. So that was the decision that was made. It all happened pretty quickly and here he is for the Hungarian Grand Prix."
When asked when De Vries was informed of Red Bull and AlphaTauri’s decision to move on from him, Horner replied: “It all happened a little quicker than expected, bearing in mind that we hadn't completed the test.
“Helmut spoke with Nyck and, you know, he was the one that obviously had recruited him. He was the one that spoke with Nyck about lap 11 of the test, I think.”
While concluding he said, “I think it’s very difficult. That would have meant obviously leaving him in the car until after the summer break,” said Horner. “I think the situation was clear. It was a question of, okay, what's the point in waiting?"
“If we've got to do something, we might as well get on with it and give Daniel 12 races to see what he's capable of.”
