Franz Tost draws Sebastian Vettel comparison, defends Nyck de Vries’ miserable start to 2023

Nyck de Vries has had a rocky start to life at AlphaTauri, but Franz Tost is not concerned yet - and even cited Sebastian Vettel when making his case.

Franz Tost draws Sebastian Vettel comparison, defends Nyck de Vries’ miserable start to 2023

Nyck de Vries (L) | Sebastian Vettel (R)

It’s safe to say that Nyck de Vries’ start to 2023 hasn’t been the greatest. He was given the seat following his heroics for Williams in Monza last season, and because Red Bull were unable to secure a super license exemption for Colton Herta. The Dutchman hasn’t lived up to that performance again, at least as of yet. He may improve as the season goes on, but he can’t afford for this to continue very long. If it does, the hammer will come down on him.

But it’s easy to forget: While he’s of considerable age, 28, and is already a Formula E world champion, he’s a rookie. It’s not easy adapting to Formula 1. De Vries himself found that out last season when he needed help coming out of the car after his Monza outing. And there’s of course, the question of taming the beast that is a Formula 1 car. This means, that at least for now, AlphaTauri team principal, Franz Tost, is willing to ignore his missteps.

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In Baku, the Dutchman crashed during Friday qualifying, and also during the feature race, when he ‘broke’ his front-left tire. Speaking on Saturday of the Baku weekend, Tost said: “There’s, as I always say, a learning process and a crash period. Because if the drivers don’t crash, they don’t know the limit. This is a credit you must give them, otherwise it doesn’t work.”

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The Austrian team principal even drew a comparison to Sebastian Vettel, who won Toro Rosso their first-ever F1 race. He said: “This is a credit you must give them, otherwise it doesn’t work. And there was no driver not crashing. I remember that Sebastian in the first races came back the first lap most often without the nose. That’s part of the game.”

Read More: F1 Azerbaijan GP – WATCH: “Nyck De Bris doesn’t deserve a seat” Nyck de Vries bins his AlphaTauri with a glaring error during qualifying

Franz Tost feels the new sprint format didn’t help Nyck de Vries

Nyck de Vries
Nyck de Vries

Perhaps due to his performance in Monza last season, many had high hopes for Nyck de Vries. Some even thought he would be the lead driver, over Yuki Tsunoda. But at least for now, this has definitely not been the case. The Japanese driver has taken a clear step up, and de Vries will have to work hard to adapt, and catch up with his teammate. But Franz Tost also feels that the lack of practice sessions in Baku didn’t help him.

Tost, who will step down as AlphaTauri team principal at the end of the season, said: “As I always say, if a rookie is coming to Formula 1, he needs minimum three years to understand what’s going on here. Look now to this race weekend format here in Baku. We have the free practice one and then you go into the qualifying and what’s problematic for young drivers and rookies is to get most out of the track and of the tyres in qualifying, and that’s really a difficult exercise.”

The next few races will be important for de Vries’ future in F1. At AlphaTauri, you always have new talent streaming in, lining up to take your place. There’s Liam Lawson, currently the prime candidate, but also many others. The Dutchman will have to work hard to keep his place – he can’t afford many more weekends like this.

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