The Cruel Inevitability of Nyck de Vries
Joe Marshall- @AllSportJoe
10 races into his Alpha Tauri career, Nyck de Vries has lost his seat. Like many others before him, the Dutchman has fallen victim to the ruthless Red Bull machine. Taking his place is the infectious Daniel Ricciardo, the popular Aussie returning to the grid for the first time since being replaced at McLaren after two underwhelming seasons.
Most, if not all Formula 1 fans reacted with glee at the news of Ricciardo’s imminent return, but no one has really given much consideration to the ousted de Vries. But was the decision fair? Was he given enough time? And crucially, was it inevitable?
For all the jokes, Nyck de Vries is obviously a talented driver, his pedigree before coming into F1 spoke for itself. As a former Formula 2 champion, he raced alongside, and beat, some talented racers including fellow future F1 stars Guanyu Zhou and Mick Schumacher. Although that was back in 2019, he then competed in Formula E, winning the electric series in 2021. Although he was competing in another series, he still had a reputation in the premier class of open wheel racing, as he remained a reserve driver for Mercedes, occasionally participating in free practice sessions. His reputation was then enhanced further at Monza in 2022, when he performed way above expectations by scoring points for Williams when he replaced the ill Alex Albon. This drive put him firmly back on the radar of every F1 team with an open seat, and with Pierre Gasly on the move to Alpine, a vacancy at Alpha Tauri opened up.
de Vries won the 2019 Formula 2 Championship
It was a move that many believed that he deserved, but in hindsight, I do not believe that Alpha Tauri and Nyck de Vries was ever going to be a happy marriage. Red Bull have the most complete young driver programme out of all the major F1 teams, in terms of quality and in terms of depth. When they signed Sergio Perez ahead of the 2021 season, it was seen as a radical move to hire a driver from outside of that system, given the sheer number of names they could’ve chosen from. However, it made sense for the main Red Bull team to turn to an outside hire, as they knew that in order to challenge Mercedes, they needed consistency and experience alongside Max Verstappen. In 2021, Perez offered these characteristics, and showed that looking outside of their talent pool can sometimes prove beneficial. Although Mercedes won the constructors’ title that season, Red Bull went on to win it in 2022, with Perez again playing a brilliant supporting role.
Checo’s impressive performances forced Red Bull to take a risk.
With de Vries being a Mercedes protege, it looked like the bosses at Red Bull were firmly of the belief that looking outside of their academy could help shape the future of both their main team, as well as Alpha Tauri. However, with plenty of talent waiting in the wings (pun intended), the pressure was immediately on de Vries to succeed. Most drivers in the Red Bull system have had time and money invested into their development, meaning that although he has a reputation for being ruthless, Helmut Marko is more inclined to let them grow in the sport. Look at Tsunoda, as a hot-headed erratic rookie in his debut season, it would not have been surprising to see him axed. But no, because of the investment that Red Bull put into him, they allowed him a little bit of time to develop. Fast-forward to 2023, and Tsunoda is maturing into a fantastic team leader, wringing every ounce of performance from a true tractor of a car.
Due to the fact that de Vries was a stranger entering a close-knit family, the pressure was on him greatly to impress father Marko, which he seemed to struggle with. There is no doubting that Nyck struggled in his first few races of 2023, finding his feet in a sport and a team that can be extremely unforgiving. His first few races included some of the toughest tracks of the season, such as the treacherous Jeddah Corniche circuit, Monaco, and Baku. These narrow street tracks mean that any mistake will be punished, which we saw particularly in Baku. This defence of de Vries can be argued with the fact that he won Formula E, a series which takes place on tracks so tight you can scarcely believe that the cars can even squeeze round, but in a new formula, in an awful car, it was an uphill task to safely find the limit around unforgiving circuits.
A number of early season crashes saw the pressure mount.
There seemed to be rumours almost from the very start that Nyck was an unwelcome intruder into the Red Bull fraternity. Rumours that team principal Christian Horner was unconvinced about the signing from early on did little to quieten the noise that was surrounding de Vries’ future once the pressure started to mount. It almost felt like his poor performances were welcomed with relief around the energy station, as it meant that it would be easier to justify a decision to pull the trigger. The poor car meant that he was unable to demonstrate his capabilities. Unlike the Williams at Monza in 2022, which was excellent at high speeds, the Alpha Tauri seemed to suit practically none of the ten circuits that Nyck took to in 2023. De Vries failed to impress, but a lot of this underachiement was inevitable due to the car he was given.
de Vries’ debut for Williams was hard to ignore
In summary, the de Vries and Alpha Tauri partnership was one that was destined to fail. Hiring an outsider isn’t really part of Red Bull’s DNA, and although it may have worked with Perez, he was signed for a completely different purpose to the Dutchman’s job at Alpha Tauri. There is no doubt that there is a competent and quick race car driver in there somewhere, but for now, Nyck de Vries will have to look elsewhere to prove it.