AlphaTauri Won’t Use Max Verstappen as Benchmark to Evaluate Nyck De Vries

AlphaTauri head into the 2023 season with a new driver pairing. Nyck de Vries has finally landed a full-time F1 seat for himself after years of being on the sidelines, as he teams up with Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda at the team. However, the Dutchman is now facing the threat of being compared to two-time world champion Max Verstappen.

Verstappen is already a legend of F1 despite his relatively young age of 25. His rise to the top has been meteoric, and he heads into the new campaign as a favorite to win the title once again provided Red Bull makes a strong car.

AlphaTauri is Red Bull’s sister team, so the ties between them are strong. Verstappen and De Vries are both from the Netherlands and are now part of the Red Bull family, so certain people have begun comparing the two. AlphaTauri, however, does not want its new driver to take these comparisons seriously.

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Why AlphaTauri don’t want De Vries and Verstappen to be compared

Verstappen is arguably the most in-form driver in F1 currently. After coming out on top in a colossal title fight with Hamilton in 2021, Verstappen dominated the 2022 season to win his second consecutive championship.

There aren’t many drivers today (or in F1 history) who could claim that they can match Verstappen’s level, so AlphaTauri doesn’t want De Vries to focus on that. Team principal Franz Tost feels that the worst thing his new driver can do is compare himself to Verstappen.

As reported by RacingNews365.com, the 67-year-old labeled Verstappen as an unbelievable natural talent who has the amazing facilities of Red Bull at his disposal. As a result, he wants De Vries to focus only on his racing.

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Comparing Nyck de Vries and Max Verstappen

Comparing De Vries and Verstappen is unfair to the former for a number of reasons. He was always labeled as a huge talent throughout his junior career and even won the Formula 2 Championship in 2019.

However, a lack of opportunities in F1 always kept him sidelined as a reserve driver for some teams on the grid. During this time, he showed his racing talent in other ventures too by winning the Formula E Title in 2021.

De Vries’ talent behind the wheel of an F1 car only came under the spotlight when he filled in for Alex Albon at the 2022 Italian GP. He scored points for Williams on debut, which caught the attention of several teams. In the end, the former Mercedes junior switched to the Red Bull family by signing for AlphaTauri.

Hence, it can be said that De Vries got his big break a lot later than Verstappen did. He is currently 28 years old and has a lot of time to make his mark in F1, but his career journey can certainly not be compared to that of Verstappen’s.