“Our marketing department is less happy about Nyck de Vries”: Red Bull boss jokes 27-year-old’s arrival isn’t commercially attractive for them

Red Bull chief Helmut Marko joked that Nyck de Vries was not Red Bull’s most commercially viable option to sign. 

2022 has been a groundbreaking year for De Vries. He got to take part in two FP1 sessions this year for Mercedes and Aston Martin respectively, and also got his F1 debut as Alex Albon’s replacement in Monza.

His stunning F1 debut at the Italian GP led to a lot of teams considering him for a 2023 seat. In the end, it was Red Bull who decided that he would replace the outgoing Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri. The former F2 and Formula-E champion finally got the full-time F1 seat he was desperately waiting for.

Red Bull now have two Dutch drivers at their helm, even though De Vries is at AlphaTauri. The team’s chief advisor insisted that the 27-year-old’s experience is something they did not want to pass up on. He expects the new driver to lead AlphaTauri from the very get-go next year.

“With his personality and experience, Nyck should lead the team,” Marko said to De Telegraaf.

Also read: “It’s a shame to lose Nyck De Vries” – Mercedes regret losing $5 Million net worth driver to AlphaTauri

Dutch fans will be happy about Nyck de Vries joining Red Bull

Marko is happy that they got De Vries to join AlphaTauri. However, he did joke that having two Dutch drivers at the team is not the best commercial option at their disposal.

During the interview with De Telegraaf, he added that Red Bull work hard to have as many countries included in F1 as possible. They have Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda from Mexico and Japan respectively. As for the Netherlands, they already have two-time World Champion Max Verstappen, who’s showing no signs of slowing down.

“It’s nice for you,” he said. “For the Dutch press, that there will soon be two drivers from your country active. “But our marketing department is less happy about it,” jokes Marko. “But for me, everything is about performance.”

Also read: 2022 F1 Champion Max Verstappen was forced to go off-track to avoid tractor

Max Verstappen wins second World Title in Japan

In 2021, Verstappen’s Title battle went his way on the very last lap of the season finale. It was one of the most exciting finishes in recent F1 history. This year, however, even he had to be reminded that he was World Champion again.

After a rain-interrupted Japanese GP ended last Sunday, fans, teams, and the drivers thought that full points won’t be awarded since they had completed only 50% of the race. However, after giving Charles Leclerc’s five second penalty, the FIA also revealed that full points were given.

This meant that either way, Verstappen would leave Suzuka as World Champion. The 25-year-old, however, was not sure that he had won the Championship even during the podium celebrations.

At just 25 years old, Verstappen has two World Titles and 32 race wins to his name.