Helmut Marko and Christian Horner are undoubtedly two of the strongest pillars of Red Bull Racing. Often in sync with each other, the pair have taken the Austrian team to a whole new level. But it’s obvious that not every time the duo agrees with each other. And Marko is now regretful about one such incident.
The regret is about signing Nyck de Vries and the reason is statistically obvious. However, there was no scope to doubt the Dutchman on how magically he appeared out of nowhere to grab a seat at AlphaTauri, the Red Bull sister team.
After replacing an ill Alex Albon at Williams, the 28-year-old debuted in Formula 1 in 2022. In his debut race in the sport, the Dutch driver finished on points with the British team, which is very rare.
de Vries’ P9 at Imola gave a brilliant impression and Marko was way too convinced to give him the seat at AlphaTauri. As the Dutchman replaced the outgoing Pierre Gasly, expectations were high on him.
Admittedly, there were plenty of drivers to take from the Red Bull academy, or out-of-contract drivers, but Marko decided to go on de Vries’ way. But, with the results de Vries has produced after 8 races, Marko isn’t pleased.
Helmut Marko believes Horner was right
Marko has recently opened up on how he regrets going in the opposite way of Horner and sign de Vries despite all the opposition.
Recently, in the Inside Line F1 podcast, the 80-year-old said when asked if he and Horner often disagree on driver decisions. Answering this, he said, “Not often, but sometimes we do.”
First 📸s of @nyckdevries in his @WilliamsRacing gear ahead of his FP1 debut #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/O4hW2IeywO
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) May 19, 2022
Following this, he was asked when was the last time the Red Bull mastermind disagreed with the Red Bull team principal. Marko replied, “The last one, I would say Nyck de Vries. And at the moment it looks like he is right.”
The veteran Red Bull figure believes Horner is right because of the way the Dutchman has been performing of late. He not only failed considerably against his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, but de Vries is yet to pick up a point this season.
Is de Vries’ position in AlphaTauri under threat?
As things stand, talks emerged regarding the 28-year-old exit from the Faenza-based team as he finished below P15 on multiple occasions and his best finish was P12.
Furthermore, the qualification performance throughout the season has also been dismal from Max Verstappen’s compatriot.
All in all, with Daniel Ricciardo’s comeback rumors to a seat under the Red Bull umbrella, it’ll be interesting to see which driver Helmut Marko and Christian Horner prioritize for 2024.
