“I hope people see that too,” Ex- F1 champ Sebastian Vettel defends Nyck De Vries following shock AlphaTauri exit after 10 races

Four time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel had gone on to defend Nyck De Vries following his shock exit from F1.

“I hope people see that too,” Ex- F1 champ Sebastian Vettel defends Nyck De Vries following shock AlphaTauri exit after 10 races

Sebastian Vettel and Nyck De Vries Via - (Aston Martin & Red Bull socials)

Ex-Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel has gone on to show his support for fellow racer Nyck De Vries. Just a few days back, it was revealed that the Dutch racer had been sacked by Red Bull following his poor performances so far into the season. This decision was immediately followed by the announcement of Daniel Ricciardo joining the team. It was a tough situation for De Vries to handle. However, Vettel had his back. 

Red Bull is known for their aggressive driver signings. They expect the drivers to be on their ‘A’ game from day 1 itself. 10 races into the season, Nyck De Vries was still not able to get his mojo. This in turn meant that his seat was in grave danger. With the 28 year old driver being a Formula E world champion, many including Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko expected Nyck to get right on with it. However, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.

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In an interview, Sebastian Vettel has empathised with Nyck De Vries over his current situation. “I hope he didn’t get a dent in his confidence,” said four-time Formula 1 world champion. ‘It’s cruel and a shame for Nyck,’ he tells ITV. “I think Nyck got a great opportunity. Things didn’t go as he expected and as other people expected, but it’s as hard as it suddenly stops,” Vettel went on to say.

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“He is a good driver, who has previously won the F2 championship and other international championships as well. He is highly regarded for a reason. Shouldn’t just look at his short Formula 1 career at AlphaTauri now. We also don’t know from the outside why the ten races didn’t go as hoped, he also remains a good driver. I hope people see that too,” Sebastian Vettel continued.

Related: Helmut Marko asks Sergio Perez to ‘forget the World Championship dream’ amidst uncertainty over the Mexican’s Red Bull future

Daniel Ricciardo will be under pressure from Hungary onwards to earn a seat for 2024

Nyck De Vries
Nyck De Vries ( Via AlphaTauri IG)

Daniel Ricciardo has been having an interesting week so far. The ‘Honey Badger’ did a Pirelli tyre test with Red Bull on Wednesday where his timings in the RB-19 impressed Red Bull. They did so at a point where Nyck De Vires was immediately sacked and the seat was handed to Daniel. Even Christian Horner was not expecting it to happen as soon as it did. The Brit got to know about it when it was officially announced.

Daniel Ricciardo had said previously in an interview that he wanted to race in Las Vegas. After his contract with McLaren ended abruptly in 2022, it seemed like Daniel Ricciardo’s wishes were not going to come true. However, it seems like luck was with the Aussie racer as he shall now be able to race in sin city. It will be interesting to see the progress that he makes compared to Nyck De Vries in the AT-04.

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