Nyck de Vries burst into the scene as one of the most talented racers after winning the 2019 F2 World Championship. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough opportunities for the Dutchman in F1, so he remained on the sidelines and competed in other racing series. Finally, AlphaTauri has given him a shot in 2023 and according to Karun Chandhok, he has a better chance of getting into Red Bull than Daniel Ricciardo does.
When Ricciardo made his return to Red Bull as their third driver for the 2023 season, many people felt that he was being brought in as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez. Perez, whose contract ends in 2024, insisted that he is not worried about these rumors.
Chandhok, who is an analyst and commentator for Sky Sports, told Motorsport that Ricciardo will not be considered for a seat in case Red Bull look for a replacement. The former F1 driver thinks that de Vries has a better shot at becoming Max Verstappen’s teammate.
Also read: Daniel Ricciardo Warned by Alex Albon About Being Max Verstappen’s Understudy
Nyck de Vries gearing up for the biggest year of his career
De Vries has repeatedly proven that he is one of the most talented racing drivers in the world. After winning the F2 world title, he ventured into Formula E where he once again secured the world championship.
Fortunately for the former Mercedes academy driver, 2022 turned out to be a year of good fortune for him. When Alex Albon was ruled out of the 2022 Italian GP, De Vries was chosen as his replacement driver, and with just two days of preparation, he managed scored points on his F1 debut.
This caught the attention of multiple F1 teams, who were looking for a driver for the 2023 season. When Pierre Gasly announced his departure from AlphaTauri, the Faenza-based squad chose de Vries as their driver. 2023 is going to be a year where de Vries will be looking to prove to the world why he deserves to be in F1.
What’s next for Daniel Ricciardo?
For Ricciardo, the last four years were extremely turbulent. The Aussie left Red Bull in 2018 to try and guide Renault to success but after two underwhelming seasons, he decided to move to McLaren in search of better results.
At McLaren, Ricciardo endured what was arguably the two most difficult years of his career. He had a three year deal that was set to expire at the end of 2023, but the Woking-based squad parted ways with him in 2022 itself.
This prompted Ricciardo to take a break from being a full-time F1 driver as he decided to return to Red Bull as the team’s reserve driver. For now, it is not clear if he is looking to return to the grid in 2024.
