Nyck de Vries, “the biggest mistake” of his career

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has called Nyck de Vries' signing for AlphaTauri in 2023 the “biggest mistake” of his career.

The 2019 Formula 2 champion was recruited after impressing the paddock during his last-minute replacement at Williams in Italy 2022. He took over the seat vacated by an ailing Alex Albon. However, the Dutchman never found the rhythm and was clearly dominated by Yuki Tsunoda.

Faced with his difficulties, Red Bull finally decided to replace him during the season with Daniel Ricciardo. Since then, de Vries has returned to Formula E, where he won the world title in 2020-2021.

Read also: After F1, Nyck de Vries returns to Formula E with Mahindra Racing

Interviewed by Autosprint, Marko, who plays a key role in Red Bull driver selection, admitted that with hindsight he would have made a different decision.

“My biggest mistake? Without a doubt, it's Nyck de Vries”, said Marko.

“He did very well on his Williams debut at Monza. But once he arrived at AlphaTauri, he didn’t progress.”

“He had an incredible track record, FIA F2 champion and Formula E world champion, but with us the clock said Nyck was not the right choice. And while trying to go faster, he made mistakes”, concluded the Austrian.

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