“Nick deVries got yellow card, not red,” Helmut Marko clears situation at AlphaTauri, names Liam Lawson as possible replacement
Helmut Marko has clarified what he wants Nyck deVries to do to retain his AlphaTauri seat, and he also gave out the possible replacement options for him.
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The drama at AlphaTauri over Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko‘s displeasure with Nyck deVries’ performance has been the talk of the F1 town lately. When Pierre Gasly decided to leave the Red Bull wing for the French squad of Alpine, Marko chose Formula 3, Formula 2 and Formula E Champion Nyck deVries to partner up with Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull’s sister team. Unfortunately, deVries’ illustrious career before entering F1 did not help him get a points finish in any of the 5 Grands Prix he has been a part of till now.
Nyck deVries is currently at the lower most position on the Drivers’ Championship table, and Helmut Marko has found this unacceptable. The Dutchman has not been able to match teammate Tsunoda’s performance, according to Marko’s assessment. And thus, he has been issued an ultimatum from the Austrian F1 veteran which says that he must improve in the next three races to secure his F1 career, or else AlphaTauri might drop him to take up another recruit.
The shocking report from what was going on at AlphaTauri’s Faenza headquarters left fans astonished. Now, Helmut Marko himself has addressed this, saying, “We spoke to de Vries and he agrees with us: he needs to improve. The distance to teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who is doing a great job, is too big. To use footballer jargon, Nick got the yellow card, but not the red yet. If he improves, a driver change will not be an issue.”
Ricciardo, Schumacher not on the cards: Helmut Marko
As Nyck deVries has been faced with an impossible challenge of improving quickly within the next three Grands Prix, fans believe the 28-year-old is headed out of F1. So, they were confused if AlphaTauri would take up Red Bull’s third driver Daniel Ricciardo in Nyck’s place, or if it would be Mick Schumacher’s F1 return.
But Marko said, “If the worst came to the worst, we would fall back on our pool of young talent. It’s specifically about Liam Lawson and Ayumu Iwasa. Ricciardo is not an issue. Mick Schumacher is also not an issue. He’s a Mercedes driver and he’s not in our plans. Accordingly, Toto Wolff is responsible for him.“
Now, the onus is on Nyck deVries to prove that he deserves a seat at the highest league of motorsports by giving his best performance in the next three races. This means that all eyes will be on him at Imola, Monaco and Barcelona to assess whether he will pass Marko’s test and retain his seat or if he will have to be replaced by another potential racer.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)