Felipe Massa says Nyck De Vries’s brutal sacking by AlphaTauri is completely ‘justified’

Nyck De Vries did not make the most of the opportunties that he was given in F1.

Felipe Massa says Nyck De Vries’s brutal sacking by AlphaTauri is completely ‘justified’

Felipe Massa (Credits: Speedweek) and Nyck De Vries (Credits: SB Nation)

Nyck De Vries was brought on board by the AlphaTauri team ahead of the ongoing 2023 Formula 1 season. Helmut Marko and Co. had high hopes for him but from the very first race of the season, he was on the back foot and was ultimately sacked; the former F1 driver, Felipe Massa feels the decision was justified.

Nyck De Vries was in a dismal run of form at the pinnacle of motor racing, and because of this reason, he was sacked ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. He could not match or surpass his younger teammate, Yuki Tsunoda’s performances. After Daniel Ricciardo’s test with Red Bull, it was decided to give him the AlphaTauri seat by removing the Dutchman.

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Much was said about Helmut Marko and Co’s decision back then, and while talking about it recently, Massa told Motorsport, “In my opinion, based on what De Vries showed, it was a justified change. Actually, I expected much more from a driver of his caliber. Something turned out not to fit, but I think it was a justified change.”

The former Ferrari driver feels De Vries just did not make enough of the opportunities that he was given in the AT04, and his eventual sacking by the Red Bull sister team was probably the right move. The 28-year-old was expected to perform right from the get-go, but he was unable to deliver what was expected of him.

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Nyck De Vries did not score even a single point in 2023

Nyck De Vries (Credits: Sports Illustrated)
Nyck De Vries (Credits: Sports Illustrated)

While several people in the F1 paddock bashed AlphaTauri for their brutal treatment of Nyck De Vries, their actions are somewhat justified, as earlier mentioned by Massa. During his 10 outings this year, De Vries could not score even a single point, and considering this, his sacking is quite understandable.

Moreover, Daniel Ricciardo, since joining the Faenza-based team, has shown why his appointment was the right decision. In his two outings so far, he has done well and has been almost on par with Tsunoda in terms of extracting the most performance out of the AlphaTauri car, which is easily the slowest this year.

The F1 extravaganza is returning on the upcoming 25th of August, and taking into account everything that has happened at AlphaTauri, it will be fascinating to see the two AlphaTauri doing their thing during the second leg of the 2023 F1 season. Their main for the remainder of the campaign will be to score as many points as possible.

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