Red Bull snubs Daniel Ricciardo; Liam Lawson the prime candidate to replace Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri: Reports

There have been reports recently that Daniel Ricciardo could replace Nyck de Vries soon, if his performance doesn't improve. But that is not very likely.

Red Bull snubs Daniel Ricciardo; Liam Lawson the prime candidate to replace Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri: Reports

Nyck de Vries (L) | Liam Lawson (C) | Daniel Ricciardo (R)

Nyck de Vries has had a pretty miserable start to 2023. He was given the nod for the seat, over other candidates, mainly due to his fantastic performance with Williams in the Italian GP, last season. Moreover, he has experience of driving in other categories – he’s won Formula E, after all. But it’s safe to say that his start to 2023 has not been very good, with multiple crashes. There are already reports flying around that he’s under consideration to be replaced – by Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo left Red Bull in 2018 and moved to Renault. He did reasonably well there, though the machinery was always midfield. When he came to McLaren, he hoped that would change. But it didn’t. Moreover, he struggled massively, especially in comparison to his teammate, Lando Norris. In both 2021 and 2022, he was beaten comprehensively – particularly so in 2022. Now, he’s back with Red Bull, but as a third driver.

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Many had even thought that de Vries would be the team leader, but Yuki Tsunoda has clearly been far better. And so, the Dutchman is under increasing pressure at AlphaTauri. Reports have even said that he’s been issued an ultimatum to improve his performance by the time of the Spanish GP. If not, then he will be sacked, and replaced by Ricciardo.

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However, according to ESPN, the Australian driver is not particularly high in the running to replace de Vries. Instead, it’s Liam Lawson, currently racing in Super Formula with Mugen, that is understood to be the primary candidate. Lawson may well have gotten the seat over de Vries already, if not for the Dutchman’s heroics in Monza. Another thing that influenced AlphaTauri’s decision to bring de Vries in was the fact that they did not get a super license exemption for Colton Herta.

Read More: Helmut Marko issues ultimatum to Nyck de Vries, threatens to replace the Dutch with Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo did have a seat fitting with AlphaTauri

Daniel Ricciardo (L) | Nyck de Vries (R)
Daniel Ricciardo (L) | Nyck de Vries (R)

There are a variety of reasons why Daniel Ricciardo getting the seat at AlphaTauri is unlikely. The first one is that he desires to return with a front-running team. The second is his age: He will turn 34 this year. Drivers at AlphaTauri tend to be younger, and it’s more of a developmental team for Red Bull. The RB management, too, have made it clear that the Australian is with them solely in a reserve capacity, and that there is no view to a future seat.

Some reports also stated that he is in Faenza, which is where AlphaTauri are headquartered. According to ESPN, while he did have a seat-fitting with them at the Miami GP, he did not visit Faenza. While he has traveled to Europe, according to the publication, it was for the wedding of two of his friends, Australian snowboarder Scotty James, and Chloe Stroll. As you may know, she is Lance Stroll’s sister.

Nyck de Vries may yet turn it around. But if not, it seems that it would be Liam Lawson that will serve as his replacement. The New Zealand driver is already serving as a reserve driver for Red Bull, when it does not conflict with his duties at Super Formula. And he’s certainly an exciting prospect. While fans would love to see Ricciardo return to the sport, and it may or may not happen, it would likely not be with AlphaTauri.

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