Ben Madilynn
Helmut Marko was blunt in a recent Red Bull interview about the outgoing Nyck de Vries. Marko described de Vries as a driver who was not performing well and did not get noticed. He said that de Vries had failed to live up the expectations set for him. Marko stressed that just being a good driver was not enough. One must also be able to make an impression on the track or within the team. Marko found that de Vries did not meet this standard.
Marko’s remarks reflect the competitive nature of Formula One where performance is constantly monitored and expectations are high. Marko’s comment suggests that de Vries, despite his talent for making it to the top of motorsports, struggled in order to stand out from the pool of talented drivers. Formula One is an extremely competitive landscape, so drivers have to deliver consistently exceptional performances in order for them to stay on top. Marko’s candid comments highlight the intense pressure that drivers face, and the relentless pursuit for excellence within the sport.
Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko believes De Vries still has a racing future, despite sacking AlphaTauri’s rookie Nyck De Vries last week.
Formula 1 may be a possibility, but not likely.
Dutch outlets are available for speaking with De Telegraaf, Red Bull’s advisor explained the reasons behind the shocking decision to replace De Vries, the current reserve Daniel Ricciardo, for the Hungarian Grand Prix next week rather than wait until the summer holiday.
“We had to do something,” Marko is a spelled out. “Why would we wait? And what does it matter if we kept him for two more races when you don’t see any improvements? Nyck is a really nice guy, but the speed just wasn’t there.”
Marko explained how the organization kept track of De Vries and waited for improvements from the 28 year-old driver. It was never really an improvement. Marko released the well-documented “yellow card” De Vries was rewarded with the best finish of his rookie year at the Monaco Grand Prix, which was a P12.
Red Bull looked back at the entire season and could not find any evidence of the change.
“In April in Baku he started the weekend well and I expected him to perform better, but then he crashed again,” added Marko. Marko.
Red Bull’s advisor then countered that idea by pointing out his status as a novice. De Vries, who is 28 and has a lot of experience in the cockpit, was a rookie at AlphaTauri. Marko suggested that he should not be judged as a rookie.
The driver wanted to do this.
“He is 28 years old, has ample experience and has had the opportunity to gain plenty of knowledge as a test driver in various Formula 1 cars. In my opinion he cannot be compared to a young rookie,” Marko.
“Nyck was contracted because he had an excellent performance in Monza last year. We expected that he would be at least matching the performance of his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, but that wasn’t the case,” Add the Red Bull Advisor. “He was three tenths of a second too slow, continuously, and there was no improvement.”
This response suggests that the change was made in order to see how far Tsunoda had come as a driving. Tsunoda’s fared much better than De Vries this season — out-qualifying him in seven of the ten races and scoring the only points for the team — but is that a factor of his growth, or De Vries’ struggles?
Marko’s answer also highlights the question. “It remains to be seen how Ricciardo will hold up against Tsunoda. I think Yuki is underestimated by a lot of people. The AlphaTauri is a difficult car to drive, but Yuki has proven that it is possible to get good results with it.”
As for why the switch was made to Ricciardo — which is a suggestion Marko brushed aside a few weeks ago — the former racer pointed to Ricciardo’s test session at Silverstone this week as a reason.
“His lap times were competitive, on three different compounds,” Marko explained. “If Ricciardo wasn’t quick enough, we would have had to do something else. But since AlphaTauri is last in the constructor standings, so we had to bring about something. And usually a driver change does that. Ricciardo brings new energy to the team.”
Another suggestion in the media — including from yours truly — is that the move was made to perhapse put pressure on Sergio Pérez. Red Bull’s current Red Bull driver, who is second in Drivers’ Standings, has not been to Q3 since Miami Grand Prix.
Marko also brushed it aside.
“Checo is second in the world championship, so it would make no sense to get rid of him now,” Marko. “His race at Silverstone was good, again, but he needs to improve in qualifying.”
It is impossible to ignore the fact that there are many languages. “get rid of him now” Or beyond? Or beyond?
Marko is of the opinion that De Vries, despite being sacked from racing, still has a bright future.
Just not, perhaps, in F1.
“It’s going to be difficult, but at the same time I think he saw this coming,” Marko said De Vries would return to F1 in the future.
“I think he can have a great career in endurance racing,”
