For the market of the Faenza stable, the Austrian team has staked everything on another promising Dutch driver, Nyck de vries, nursery Mercedes as well as driver of the star Formula E stable. Nyck has arrived in AlphaTauri to replace Pierre Gasly that after years of practicing at home Red Bull is now ready to blossom in the French team of the Alpine. It is said that Max Verstappen put the flea in Marko and his companions' ear with a sort of recommendation. Which facilitated its transition to AlphaTauri.
The name of De Vries has always been very present in the paddock and this above all for his abilities which recently emerged during the weekend in Monza, in which, by virtue of being the third driver of Williams, he found himself having to replace Alexander albon dealing with bad appendicitis. The Dutchman is one of the unfortunate few Formula 2 world champions who failed to find a seat in F1 after winning the junior category, which he did in 2019. However, Nyck passed from driving a Formula E to that of a Mercedes, Aston Martin, and then Williams with disarming speed and naturalness.
At AlphaTauri/Red Bull there is great anticipation for the debut of De Vries is recently tested the seat which it will occupy in 2023. Seat that joins that of the second official driver of the team, Yuki tsunoda, recently "warned" by Helmut Marko.
From praise for De Vries to a warning for Yuki
It hasn't exactly been a great season for AlphaTauri. Above all at the beginning of the year, the Faenza team suffered from reliability problems, and from a car with various adjustment problems. Problems that also had repercussions on the pilots' results, but if on the one hand Pierre Gasly has always sought the more diplomatic route, Yuki with his decidedly "fumantine" soul has attracted the attention of Red Bull and Helmut Marko in no small way who had to take him back on several occasions. This is Yuki's second season in F1, but according to the Austrian team's super consultant, the Japanese would not be ready to take the reins of the team. A role that should therefore go to De Vries.
"Yuki is still young and doesn't have that experience technically, so Nyck can lead the team – commented Helmut Marko upon De Vries' arrival. “We'll see how it goes in practice next year, but judging by his experience and personality Nyck should be the team leader."
Furthermore, the past teaches us that the Red Bull family would not struggle to get rid of the weights, a warning like this is therefore more than enough to convince Yuki to do his best. We will also see if the expectations towards De Vries will be confirmed also in 2023.
