Former F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne claims he was not surprised when Helmut Marko and Christian Horner fired Nyck de Vries just ten races into the 2023 F1 season. Even though many believe that De Vries’ underwhelming results were responsible for his sacking, Vandoorne believes it was AlphaTauri’s poor performance that sealed his fate instead.
Vandoorne, a former McLaren star who raced in the sport for three years, knows how cutthroat F1 is. Here, performance speaks over everything else and not delivering the results might bring about an undesirable outcome for any party involved. Apart from de Vries’ recent case, other instances have also shown how ruthless Formula 1 can be. The likes of Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat were sacked in the middle of a season in recent years. On the other hand, drivers like Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon losing out on their places too, seemed unjust to many.
As for de Vries, there were a lot of expectations from him. Even though he was a rookie, he didn’t want him to be considered as one. Given that he was the 2021 Formula E champion, and impressed everyone with his stunning performance for Williams in Monza last year, most people expected him to hit the ground running from the very get-go. However, he failed to meet these expectations, which ultimately resulted in his sacking.
Stoffel Vandoorne reveals why AlphaTauri was responsible
Stoffel Vandoorne was Nyck de Vries’ teammate in the Mercedes EQ Formula E team for three years. Therefore, he knows the Dutchman really well, and recognizes the potential he has. However, Vandoorne was not surprised when he heard about his former teammate being laid off.
As per French media rtbf.be, Vandoorne said, “I think everyone expected to see great things from Nyck. But the car was not performing at all. So it’s very difficult to get noticed.”
NEWS | Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne will take part in the Young Driver Test with Mercedes at Abu Dhabi on Tuesday! #F1
📸 Formula Motorsport Ltd & Mercedes pic.twitter.com/277iXVyvFO
— Feeder Series (@feeder_series) December 11, 2020
Following this, the Belgian driver went on to state how de Vries’ removal is a normal thing to witness within the Red Bull family. In the Austrian stable, performance is everything and when not delivered, can lead to serious consequences. Nevertheless, this move has drawn in a lot of criticism from several other personalities, including Red Bull legend Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel criticizes Nyck de Vries removal
As reported by Crash.net, Sebastian Vettel opened up about the sacking of Nyck de Vries and labeled it as brutal. Even though he admitted that de Vries got a golden opportunity to shine at AlphaTauri, he wasn’t happy to see it end so harshly.
The German was also shocked at how he got so little time to prove himself, that too in his rookie year and is worried about his future. On the other hand, Vettel was also happy for his former teammate Daniel Ricciardo after he made a return to the grid with AlphaTauri.
Furthermore, Vettel added that he met with the Dutchman last year and found him to be a good person and driver. Nevertheless, what’s done is done and the four-time world champion wished de Vries the best for his future.
