Nyck de Vries’ Formula 1 debut with AlphaTauri has gotten off to a rocky start, and he has already been mentioned in connection with an early Red Bull exit.
The Dutch driver had been making progress recently while getting ready for the Canadian Grand Prix despite the fact that Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko had to give the 28-year-old a warning earlier in the year.
This is simply because the 2021 Formula E World Champion started off the season so poorly, which caused him to face criticism from the media right away.
Given that Marko intended De Vries to be a driver who could lead the Faenza-based squad, the Red Bull boss acknowledged that De Vries had not done well enough in the season’s opening races.
De Vries was anticipated to be a driver who could lead the Faenza-based team, but Marko acknowledged that his performance in the season’s first races wasn’t good enough.
On the contrary, Yuki Tsunoda did well in the same capacity, starting his 2023 campaign more or less like a different and more experienced Formula 1 driver. Tsunoda’s excellent start has drawn attention to De Vries’ challenges, and Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson’s impressive performance in Japan has made the situation much worse for the driver.
In the event that De Vries gets kicked out, Lawson, who is currently ranking first place in the Super Formula standings, is expected to take over his seat at AlphaTauri. But given that De Vries has supposedly received an ultimatum, Marko’s forewarning appears to have had the desired effect.
In addition to finishing 12th and 14th respectively in Monaco and Spain, he demonstrated significantly improved racecraft compared to his incident-filled races at the beginning of the season.
One of the Dutchman’s major challenges appears to be adapting to the F1 format, mostly as a result of the extensive track time F1 drivers receive ahead of qualifying.
De Vries has only had a little number of hours of free practice during his career, and he notes that the format is “very different” from that of any other single-seater category.
“The game in Formula 1 is very, very different than any junior single-seater category,” De Vries told The Race. “In all the categories up to Formula 1 you have a lot less track time and it’s all about getting to 90%.
“You start you free practice session with full fuel, a different [tyre] compound and you go into quali, take the fuel out but still have to drain it through the session because you can’t refuel and you go on a softer compound.
“So run two is the one that counts and that means you only have one or two laps. No one is able to put it on 99% in those laps. You try, but you’re within 90% or 85% in that lap, it already puts you very close to the top five.
“In Formula 1, you have much more track time and it’s a moving target because conditions are constantly changing, the track is evolving.
“You have a lot of track time and everything is pushed much more into the detail. Little things are more sensitive because the differences are so small.
“Monaco was a good experience for that, because you could only really see the laptimes coming alive in qualifying.
“But you still have three hours of practice to do and you’re constantly learning and evolving both as a driver and as a package through those sessions.
“And that game is very different. Being one with the car, knowing what you have and knowing what to expect is going to make a difference.”
