Nyck De Vries admits to holding talks with Helmut Marko over potential AlphaTauri seat; Pierre Gasly exit imminent


Nyck De Vries admits to holding talks with Helmut Marko over potential AlphaTauri seat; Pierre Gasly exit imminent

Nyck De Vries and Red Bull F1 advisor Helmut Marko

Formula E world champion and Mercedes reserve driver Nyck De Vries was in Monza last weekend where he was supposed to just take part in an FP1 session with Aston Martin. However, fate had something else in play for him as Alex Albon’s condition gave him a chance to race in the Italian GP replacing the Thai driver who required surgery. Nyck only had one FP3 session before moving on to qualifying in a car which he hadn’t driven at all. Although the Dutch driver kept his cool and pushed through.

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After qualifying in a decent spot on the grid for his debut Grand Prix and also beating Williams teammate Nicolas Latifi, the paddock was impressed with the 27-year-old’s performance. Later on in the race, the Dutch driver showed immense skills and went on to finish P9 bringing home 2 massive points for his team. Jos Capito was overjoyed with this result which has further led to rumours about the Williams F1 team approaching the De Vries for a possible contract for 2023. Although Williams isn’t the only team that is eager to sign the driver for next year.

In an interview, Nyck De Vries revealed that he met Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko in Austria this week where they had some concrete talks. Having also been on Alpine’s radar, the Dutch driver’s probability of being in F1 next year just keeps on increasing day by day. After his meeting with Marko, he has confirmed that AlphaTauri is on his list for next year as he aims to complete for a full season in the sport starting from 2023.

Nyck De Vries is being eyed by Alpine, Williams and AlphaTauri for a 2023 seat

Nyck De Vries
Nyck De Vries

It seems more likely that Nyck will be racing for AlphaTauri next year where he will partner Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly will reportedly move to Alpine to partner Esteban Ocon. Although De Vries will only be signed to AlphaTauri if Pierre Gasly moves to Alpine. In a few days, we will get to know about the actuality of the whole situation and an update will be provided by all the parties.

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In the future, if Nyck de Vries performs well as an AlphaTauri driver, there might even be provisions for him to move up to Red Bull. This path has been followed by Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly before him. Partnering Max Verstappen and being an all-Dutch lineup in the main team would be somewhat of an unexpected surprise.

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