Out of all the teams in F1, Red Bull arguably has the biggest talent pool. Regardless of their existing star youngsters, they decided to go for Nyck de Vries as AlphaTauri’s new driver in 2023, but so far, the Dutchman has been struggling to justify their call. De Vries feels that F1 being so different from other racing ventures is why he struggles.
De Vries joined Red Bull‘s sister team AlphaTauri ahead of the 2023 season with a huge amount of racing experience already under his belt. The 28-year-old won the 2019 Formula 2 championship and followed it up with a victory in the 2020/21 Formula E championship.
Most people felt that he was too good to be on the sidelines, as he spent years as a Mercedes reserve driver. After filling in for Alex Albon in Monza last year, his performance impressed Helmut Marko, who decided to give Max Verstappen’s compatriot a shot at the team. Unfortunately for De Vries, Marko’s gamble has not paid off.
F1 Championship is “very different” from anything else Nyck De Vries took part in
F1 is often considered to be the pinnacle of motorsports. Almost all young racing drivers grow up and work hard to make it here, and De Vries wasn’t anything different. His incredible talent and potential in the junior series are what brought him to F1 in the first place. But now that he is in F1, De Vries isn’t able to cope with the pressure.
As reported by RacingNews365, De Vries feels that driving in F1 is “very different”. The jam-packed schedule that drivers have to adhere to, with 20 different venues they have to travel to, makes it difficult, according to De Vries.
“I don’t really think that it’s different now than at any other time in my career,” the AlphaTauri star said. “But I can acknowledge that Formula 1 has been very different to any other championship I’ve been racing.”
Will Red Bull chief Helmut Marko remove De Vries?
De Vries, who earns $2,000,000 a year at AlphaTauri, is already under pressure. Although Helmut Marko and Franz Tost haven’t directly threatened to remove him midway into the season, there are plenty of talented drivers patiently waiting for their chance.
Considering the fact that De Vries isn’t someone Red Bull invested in during his junior career, it is very likely that Marko won’t be as patient with him.
So far, De Vries is the only driver in F1 other than Williams’ Logan Sargeant, to not score a single point. Nevertheless, his performances in Monaco and Spain have been much better, and he is looking to only improve from here onwards.
