While expected, the Nyck de Vries sacking by AlphaTauri still came as a shock on Tuesday as much was expected from the 28-year-old when he finally got a long overdue break and make it into Formula 1. But cruelly, he won’t be on the grid for the next Hungarian Grand Prix – Daniel Ricciardo will be in his place.
Fans and pundits, including the author, expected De Vries to be the standout sensation, and he gave a hint of what might come with that stellar performance to ninth place, in a Williams, at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix. After that, the highly respected and well-travelled driver could no longer be ignored.
Lunch with mate Max Verstappen apparently triggered a call to Red Bull driver boss Helmut Marko, upon which De Vries was signed for 2023, into the Red Bull fold as teammate to ‘rough-diamond’ Yuki Tsunoda. Such were expectations, we all feared for the Japanese driver who had yet to convince alongside Pierre Gasly.
Fast forward to yesterday, ten races into his career in the top flight, and De Vries has simply not cut it. He is no ordinary rookie in that he did Monza, plus he was a karting wiz, winning just about every worthwhile title, and also bagged the 2019 Formula 2 title and was 2020-21 Formula E World Champion.
No matter how you look at it De Vries flopped in F1
De Vries flopped in F1 and is now paying the price. The team’s prodigal son – Daniel Ricciardo – got the call-up that has been brewing for some time.
In short, one could say that while amassing a fortune with Renault and McLaren, the Australian lost his way, so much so he was paid to relieve his seat to an untested rookie in Oscar Piastri.
Without a drive, the ‘family’ that got him into F1 all those years ago – Red Bull – took him back under their wing. For the popular Australian driver who always claimed “unfinished business” in the top flight, it’s proven to be good timing as the fizzy drinks bullpen had an unknown quantity in De Vries and these days, another, bigger problem.
Namely, a teammate for Verstappen who can stay close to the Dutch ace and make it out of Q1! While Sergio Perez’s form prompts speculation that the AlphaTauri seat for Ricciardo is just a warm-up for a return to Red Bull, should the Mexican, driving the best car on the grid [if not the best F1 car of all time] not up his game.
From Ricciardo’s perspective that’s his endgame because, no matter what, it must still hurt the Aussie to return with Red Bull’s B-team, but then he did mark time with underfunded minnows HRT to get his first crack at F1. So he will know that winning or even podiums are out of the question. Thus the first order of his comeback: Beat Yuki Tsunoda convincingly.
Emmo: Daniel is good
Meanwhile, F1 legend Emerson Fittipaldi told VegasInsider Red Bull did the right thing bringing Ricciardo back: “A decision from the team, they know what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. The most important thing is that they want to change drivers, it can happen anytime.
“Nyck de Vries is also a good driver but sometimes it’s the decision of the team to try a different driver. That’s part of the sport.”
As for the return of the Aussie veteran, Fittipaldi reckoned: “I like Daniel Ricciardo a lot. He’s an incredible professional, very experienced now and has been fast. I’m sure Daniel will do a good job at AlphaTauri. I was lucky in the last few years to associate with Daniel at McLaren. He has a very good personality. He’s good.”
While De Vries, perhaps unjustly, is forced out of F1 with 11 starts to his name, as veteran and eight-time GP-winner Ricciardo returns for his 233rd start in the top flight at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, on 23 July.
Meanwhile, time will tell if this is not a long-winded way to replace Perez whose form relative to Verstappen, is by far worse than what De Vries is versus Tsunoda.
While the #1 sister car dominates and if Checo continues to be so ineffective, in the Red Bull RB19, could it be that in the next few races, he will be axed, Ricciardo promoted to RBR with De Vries plugging back in with AlphaTauri? Watch this space!