Daniel Ricciardo will replace Nyck De Vries from the Hungarian Grand Prix
The Italians were initially very fond of De Vries. He was of great value to the racing team with his experience and feedback. From there, things went downhill. The AT04 turned out to be a loft and teammate Yuki Tsunoda stole the show every week, maximising results. De Vries managed to score no points in ten races.
Marko earlier gave De Vries the yellow card, saying that signing him probably “had been a mistake”. Later, the advisor shared that he could not promise that the Dutchman would still have his seat at Zandvoort: “We have to look to the future, but we are evaluating his performance and if necessary, decisions will be made.” That moment seems to have come now.
His best overall finish in 2023 was 12th in Monaco. Teammate Tsunoda was faster than De Vries in seven out of ten qualifying sessions.
It had been known for a while that Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was not satisfied with the performance of Dutchman. He was given a seat in Formula 1 after an excellent spell at Williams. Red Bull’s Austrian consultant, who divides all seats at the team and sister team AlphaTauri, was charmed by the hard-working former Formula 2 champion.
His two years at Woking saw him regularly beaten and handsomely so by Lando Norris in the same machinery, although he did claim victory at the 2021 Italian GP.
That was one of eight F1 wins for Ricciardo, the other seven coming in his stint with Red Bull – one of which was at the Hungaroring where his grand return will be.
If he cannot find his mojo again in the second half of 2023, then his shot at returning to the top of F1 might be over but not as badly as De Vries, who may struggle to find a seat anywhere after a season devoid of points and meaningful success.
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