While there was chaos everywhere on the grid during the 2023 Monaco GP, AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries had a relatively calm weekend. The Dutchman was under pressure, especially from the media after what has been a thoroughly underwhelming start to the 2023 season. However, in an interview after the race in Monaco, Red Bull boss Helmut Marko finally praised De Vries for his efforts.
De Vries started the race from P12 on the grid and went on to have an uneventful race thereafter. However, in the grand scheme of things, having an uneventful outing was the best possible thing that could have happened for him. The entire race was chaotic, with crashes and incidents spoiling the Sunday for several drivers.
De Vries, however, kept his head and finished the race in P12, where he started. Despite not making up places or earning his first points of the season, Marko lauded the 28-year-old and admitted that he wanted to see more of the same from the AlphaTauri driver.
Nyck de Vries provides stability in contrasting race for Red Bull drivers
The emotions at the Red Bull garage were contrasting after the culmination of the 2023 Monaco GP. While Max Verstappen went on to win the race comfortably to extend his lead at the top, his teammate Perez didn’t fare so well. The Mexican driver started P20 and could finish only 16th, being lapped by Verstappen twice in the process.
Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri didn’t do much better. Yuki Tsunoda, who has been the team’s better driver so far this season could manage just 15, and was also lapped by Verstappen on two separate occasions. Over the course of this weekend, De Vries was clearly better and had a clean race.
“This was by far Nyck de Vries’ best weekend so far at AT,” Marko said as per Fastest Pitstop. “This is also what I want to see from him. We have just brought someone with experience to be able to put the fire to Yuki.”
There was no ultimatum for De Vries, says Helmut Marko
Over the last few weeks, a lot of reports have pointed towards De Vries’ seat being in danger. He is a driver that was brought to AlphaTauri because of his immense racing pedigree. He won the 2019 F2 title and also the Formula E title two years ago.
There were a lot of expectations placed on the Dutch driver’s shoulders heading into his rookie campaign this year. So far, he hasn’t lived up to them, with Tsunoda clearly standing out as the main driver at AlphaTauri.
However, Helmut Marko insists that his place was never in danger. After the Monaco GP, the 79-year-old revealed that there was no ultimatum.
