Nyck de Vries issued a classy response when quizzed about his current feelings regarding his exit from the Red Bull set-up in 2023. The Dutchman insisted that he holds no grudge against Helmut Marko, despite a series of brutal comments, both during his time at AlphaTauri and after his dismissal.
The 28-year-old’s hopes of reaching F1 looked to be over after he failed to follow up his Formula 2 title with a spot on the grid for the 2020 season, but in 2023 he got his chance after impressing Marko and the Red Bull hierarchy with his stand-in performance for Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.
Unfortunately for De Vries, his fairytale story turned into a nightmare after just 10 races in the AT04 as Marko opted to sack the Dutchman ahead of his home race following a pointless and error-ridden start to the campaign. In his place returned Daniel Ricciardo.
Speaking to De Telegraaf about the situation, De Vries stated: “I didn’t get a lot of it and tried to distance myself from it as much as possible. But at the same time, I can’t say that the decision came as a total surprise. I am not naive.
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“Whether it is fair or just is actually totally irrelevant to me. Nor do I hold any grudge at all towards Helmut Marko or towards Daniel Ricciardo or his temporary replacement Liam Lawson. That is part of the business. I am very grateful for the opportunity I have been given.”
During De Vries’ short-lived stint in F1, Marko often opted to publicly criticise the Dutchman, undermining confidence in him from within the Red Bull camp. Most notably, after qualifying at the British Grand Prix, he told Sky Germany: “There’s no one available who could replace Perez. He performs well in the races, in contrast to Nyck de Vries.”
His approach to public criticism didn’t change after making the decision to replace him with Ricciardo, and he showed no regret in how the saga played out. “What’s brutal about it when the performance isn’t right?” Marko said to Motorsport-Total.
“We made the move with De Vries because stagnation set in. There was no progress and he didn’t meet expectations. He just didn’t fit.” He later added: “He is already 28, he has a lot of experience and knowledge that he gained by driving the cars of different Formula One teams as a test driver. In my opinion, Nyck cannot be considered a rookie.”
De Vries has since sealed a full-time return to racing after leaving the world of F1 behind last summer, announcing a switch to the Mahindra Formula E team as he returns to the series that crowned him world champion in 2021.
