Nyck De Vries entered the F1 grid with a lot of expectations on his shoulders, but couldn’t come close to living up to them. Red Bull sacked him midway into the 2023 campaign, leaving the Dutchman disappointed. Regardless, De Vries remains certain that he has a bright career in motorsports ahead.
De Vries joined AlphaTauri (Red Bull’s sister team) in 2023 and the outfit expected him to be a leader of the team, owing to his reputation as a former F2 and Formula E Champion.
But just 10 races into the calendar, Daniel Ricciardo replaced him. He shifted his focus to studies for some time before making a return to Formula E and insists that he is happy today.
As quoted by F1 Maximaal, the 29-year-old said, “No, I don’t have hard feelings at all. I am grateful for the opportunity I had.”
De Vries has come to terms with the fact that his F1 career, at that time, wasn’t meant to be. He is in a series he enjoys driving in at the moment and has no concrete plans set in motion to claw his way back into F1, somewhere he never particularly fit in.
Max Verstappen remains Nyck De Vries’ F1 link
Weeks after getting the sack, De Vries traveled to the US to enroll himself into a program at Harvard University, one of the world’s leading institutions. “I thought it would be nice to spend some time on something I never had time for,” he added.
However, De Vries remains connected to the world of F1 through his compatriot Max Verstappen. The 26-year-old is a good friend of De Vries’ and recently spoke about how he enjoys watching Formula E. The Red Bull driver also praised De Vries and the drivers competing in the series, calling them all talented.
De Vries, meanwhile cannot get his head around the fact that Verstappen, despite his busy F1 schedule, manages to follow so many racing ventures around the world. He also takes part in sim-racing events, which often coincide with his real-life F1 outings.
De Vries reveals that he continues to speak to Verstappen on a regular basis, and recognizes the passion he has for motorsports as a whole.
