Red Bull Racing is one of the most ruthless outfits in Formula 1, with several accomplished drivers falling trap to the reigning world champion’s impulsive decision-making. Following the recent turn of events, Nyck de Vries ended up tripping into the infamous list, feat. Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, after enduring a tough rookie season at AlphaTauri.
It barely took Red Bull an hour to sack de Vries and replace the Formula-E champion with one of their own, Daniel Ricciardo. Indeed, the move seemed inevitable, considering Ricciardo’s ever-growing desperation to return to Formula 1 and de Vries’ unremitting struggle against his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda. However, the spontaneity of the move remained in question.
📊 | Quickest times during Silverstone’s Pirelli test test:
1) Ricciardo – 1:27.415
2) Hulkenberg – 1:30.276
3) Magnussen – 1:31.247
4) Sargaent – 1:32.448
5) Albon – 1:32.453
6) Fittipaldi – 1:33.634[https://t.co/2MofTttxjR] pic.twitter.com/OTY1rbxQA2
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 13, 2023
But, of course, the Pirelli test at Silverstone proved to be the breaking point of this entire de Vries-Red Bull saga. Now, a week since the infamous de Vries sacking, the entire limelight is still shining bright on Ricciardo across social media, while de Vries has sadly gone into complete silence.
Subsequently, this raises one big question; What does the future hold for the 28-year-old? According to the former Williams manager, Peter Windsor, de Vries doesn’t have many options to choose from, and a return to F1 is virtually impossible.
Ex-Williams manager breaks down Nyck de Vries’ future in motorsport
During a YouTube stream, Windsor reckoned that de Vries might well return to Formula E after the embarrassing turn of events in F1. Furthermore, the British journalist called out Dr. Helmut Marko’s decision to hire de Vries in the first place, which was seemingly based on a single race result.
“I can’t see him getting another drive anywhere other than back in Formula E, to be honest, but I don’t know why they hired him in the first place. I don’t understand why they hired him,” he said. “If it was just the euphoria of what he did at Monza, it was impressive but it wasn’t as unbelievably brilliant as people made out. “
“It wasn’t that difficult to jump into two cars on one weekend. It’s not that difficult with these cars to go reasonably well. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a talented guy, he’s a nice guy, he’s intelligent – but I don’t think he’ll get another Formula 1 drive and he’ll probably go back to Formula E and do a very good job there. He might go to America, maybe. He’d probably do quite well there, I should think,” he concluded.
Overall, despite the poor show in Formula 1, de Vries remains a viable candidate in Formula E and the majority of the teams would want to sign the experienced Dutchman. Hence, can de Vries prove his worth as a profound motorsport talent by securing what could be his second championship title in FE?