F1 fans have gone into a frenzy after Red Bull and AlphaTauri announced the return of Daniel Ricciardo to the F1 grid. However, many fans don’t like the circumstances under which Ricciardo makes his return. They feel that Nyck De Vries should have gotten more time to adjust since he is a “rookie “in F1. Helmut Marko responded to these critics explaining why De Vries was not treated like a “rookie driver” at all.
2023 was the debut season for De Vries in F1 when he stepped into the grid with AlphaTauri. However, he was given only 10 races to prove himself before he was sacked due to his poor performances. De Vries’ sacking from the team became official earlier this week and since then, there has been widespread criticism aimed at the Red Bull management and Marko in particular.
Franz Tost has thanked Nyck De Vries for all his work at AlphaTauri 🏎
After 11 races, De Vries will depart AlphaTauri, to be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo in Hungary 🇭🇺 pic.twitter.com/uojx4rufWe
Fans and prominent F1 personalities have claimed that 10 races are not enough for a driver to settle into a team, especially if it is their first season in the sport. The so-called toxic work environment at Red Bull has been called into question, with drivers like Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon having suffered a similar fate in the past.
The De Vries situation is weird to me.
Yes, he didn’t drive the best but giving him only 10 races just isn’t enough to improve.
It also fosters a culture where RB/AT drivers are immediately under more pressure to perform than normal, knowing they’re not far from being fired.
Helmut Marko did not see Nyck De Vries as a Rookie
Helmut Marko believes that treating De Vries like a rookie driver wouldn’t have been fair. While talking to The Telegraph, Marko explained that De Vries is already 28 years old and has gained a lot of experience and knowledge by participating in a number of F1 sessions. Additionally, he also has experience in other racing ventures, winning the Formula E championship in the past.
Marko said, “You can’t compare him to a young rookie in my eyes.” He further explained that De Vries had not really managed to impress them even once during his short stint on the team. “Unfortunately, he never drove a super lap that surprised us,” said the Austrian advisor.
🗣️ | Helmut Marko on De Vries not being treated like a rookie
“He is 28 years old, has a lot of experience and has also been able to gain a lot of knowledge as a test driver in various Formula 1 cars.
There were other reasons too, behind Marko deciding to part ways with De Vries. As per sources, the main issues lay in the fact that he could not manage to match up the simulator benchmark set by Yuki Tsunoda.
Even after that, he was given a chance to prove himself on the track, but that didn’t help him either. At the time of his sacking, De Vries was one of the only two drivers to have not scored a single point throughout the first 10 races of the 2023 season. The other was Williams’ rookie Logan Sargeant.
⚠️ | According to multiple sources
– Decision to sack De Vries done earlier than expected after sim data comparisons between Daniel, Yuki and Nyck
– Nyck did not hit sim benchmarks set by Yuki
– Nyck was given a few more rounds to try and hit those benchmarks on the track
1/4 pic.twitter.com/FHEmuL3Cg4
Ricciardo returned to Red Bull at the start of the 2023 season. However, he wasn’t the main driver, and accepted a reserve role to wait for the right opportunity. He finally got to show what he was capable of at the Pirelli tire test in Silverstone earlier this week.
According to ESPN, an hour into the test, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner got on the phone with Helmut Marko to inform him that Ricciardo was showing impressive pace in the RB19.
Right after the call, Horner immediately informed De Vries that Red Bull would be letting go of him with immediate effect. Red Bull wanted to keep this a secret until the next week, but De Vries’ manager tipped the Dutch media off.
🚨 | Horner called Marko an hour into the Pirelli test to inform him of Daniel’s good pace
Shortly after that, Marko called back to tell him he had sacked De Vries
De Vries’ team then called several Dutch journalists, with RB originally planning to announce it later this week pic.twitter.com/BPapAOFaW3
This forced Red Bull to announce Ricciardo’s return immediately. On Tuesday, they announced that the 33-year-old will be suiting up for AlphaTauri for the rest of the season, bringing De Vries’ tumultuous time in F1 to a premature end.
Srijon Jana is a Formula 1 writer at The SportsRush. As a medical undergrad with a passion for motorsports, Srijon loves juggling between cadavers and cars with ease. He started watching F1 when he was only 11, and the beautiful cars grabbed his interest. Even now, he religiously follows all the Grands Prix, and when he is not gushing over Charles Leclerc, he likes to dabble in football as well. He is a college quizzer with several state-level and national-level accolades. He is a proud Ferrari fan, and loves to pass his free time reading, watching movies, and spending some quality time with his friends and family.
