AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries has been sacked from the team immediately due to an abysmal 2023 Formula 1 season start. With all the seats across teams occupied by worthy drivers, de Vries’ future in F1 seems dark. His seat in the team was taken by Red Bull’s reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo who recently underwent a tire test at Silverstone.
Nick de Vries is well renowned and was considered a ‘wildcard’ coming to the grid, with the accolade of having a Formula E championship under his belt. The Dutchman’s driving was compared to 2016 WDC champion, Nico Rosberg’s driving style.
de Vries’ debut season has ended disastrously as he struggled to keep up with his teammate Yuki Tsunoda’s speed. Along with perpetually trailing the driver, de Vries was also involved in a number of on-track incidents in the first quarter of the season. The Dutch driver failed to show any improvement, though, and it looks like AlphaTauri lost patience.
Toto Wolff and Nyck de Vries were seen at a café in Monaco today. 👀#F1 pic.twitter.com/aodVcPjgxT
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) July 12, 2023
A photograph has resurfaced on the internet that has caused a stir in the F1 community. Nyck de Vries was recently spotted at a cafe in Monaco with the team principal of Mercedes Petronas, Toto Wolff.
The driver has been the reserve driver at Mercedes in Formula E, after making a debut in motorsports with the Williams team, over the span of two years from 2020 to 2021, and had even won the championship. This incident has raised speculations regarding de Vries’ potential comeback with the England-based team.
Is Nyck de Vries in discussion with Toto Wolff and the Mercedes team?
The Dutchman was sighted recently having a conversation with Mercedes principal Toto Wolff post his ‘firing’. Fans are already suspecting a move to the Silver Arrows as the photos emerged.
But a move seems highly unlikely seeing that Lewis Hamilton, after a contract extension, is irreplaceable at the German team and his teammate, George Russell is getting good results. To add to that, we also have to take in mind that Mick Schumacher, the ex-Haas driver is also in line for the seat at Mercedes.
🚨 | Horner called Marko an hour into the Pirelli test to inform him of Daniel’s good pace
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 12, 2023
Shortly after that, Marko called back to tell him he had sacked De Vries
De Vries’ team then called several Dutch journalists, with RB originally planning to announce it later this week pic.twitter.com/BPapAOFaW3
We can also deduce the reason for the meeting to the fact that de Vries raced for the Mercedes-owned Formula E team and therefore it is safe to say that a move to Mercedes is highly improbable and that the meeting was more of a “what to do next” meeting.
With the departure of De Vries from Scuderia AlphaTauri, Australian driver and former McLaren driver, Daniel Ricciardo is all set to replace the Dutchman in the AT04 and will drive alongside Yuki Tsunoda under the supervision of Helmut Marko.