Nyck de Vries is replaced and may wonder if his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is next. Photo / Don Kennedy
Driver changes for the Red Bull teams have become the norm, rather than the exception, in recent times.
The announcement last week from the Alpha Tauri team, the sister team to current champions Red Bull, that Red Bull reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo, will replace newcomer Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri after just 10 races, will not come as a shock but is something of a surprise, less than halfway through the season.
De Vries joined Alpha Tauri this season on the basis of his fine record in a number of racing categories, including being a Formula 2 champion and Formula E champion. More especially, he was signed by Red Bull adviser, Helmut Marko, on the basis of a successful Formula 1 debut in last year’s Italian Grand Prix for Williams, filling in for Alex Albon, who had Covid.
De Vries finished eighth in that race, which impressed a number of team principals.
On the suggestion of his fellow Dutch countrymen, world champion Max Verstappen, De Vries contacted Marko and obviously convinced him he was ready for F1. But it was an appointment that did not meet favour with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.
A few races in, Marko had signalled prior to the Monaco GP that de Vries’ position was under threat, with Marko suggesting he could be replaced by New Zealander Liam Lawson, currently running second in the Super Formula championship in Japan, or F2 driver Ayuma Iwasa. Ricciardo was not considered a contender at that time.
When de Vries finished a relatively credible 12th in Monaco, it seemed he may have saved his F1 career, for the time being anyway. But finishing last of the cars still running in the British GP may have been the final straw, with Ricciardo announced to replace him, starting with this weekend’s Hungarian GP.
Ricciardo is no stranger to being at both ends of driver changes based on performance. When he joined Red Bull in 2014 to partner Sebastian Vettel, who at that stage had won four consecutive world championships, Ricciardo won three races whereas Vettel won none. It was seemingly too much for Vettel to be beaten by his teammate, so he left for Ferrari in 2015 and Daniil Kvyat joined Red Bull. Kvyat could be fast at times, and actually out-scored Ricciardo in 2015, including his best-ever finish of second in Hungary. But he struggled with consistency in his second year.
In 2017 he made the podium in China, but in the next race, his home Grand Prix in Russia, he punted Vettel’s Ferrari out of the race, and even his teammate Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz, in the Toro Rosso, got caught up in the subsequent melee. It was then that Kvyat discovered how brutal F1 is. Marko demoted Kvyat back to Torro Rosso, the team now known as Alpha Tauri, and in came 18-year-old Torro Rosso driver Max Verstappen, who impressed immediately, winning on his first start with Red Bull in the Spanish GP.
Suddenly, Ricciardo found himself as the driver under threat. Although he had won seven races with Red Bull, here was this young upstart ready and willing to tackle the best. In his first couple of seasons, Verstappen gained the unwanted reputation of being a driver whose aggressive style caused collisions. He was not popular with his fellow drivers, and although he got on well with Ricciardo, the cracks in the relationship began to appear.
When Verstappen started beating Ricciardo consistently, Ricciardo left for Renault, as he wanted to be number one in the team, whereas Verstappen was clearly the new wonder boy. Kvyat, meanwhile, was replaced by Pierre Gasly at Torro Rosso and the latter then replaced Ricciardo at Red Bull in 2018, while Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley joined Torro Rosso. Neither Gasly nor Hartley would last with their respective teams. Hartley was gone after one season, replaced by Alex Albon. Kept up so far?
Albon didn’t last long either, making way for Sergio Perez, who is now in his fourth season with Red Bull, but his drive has also been under threat for some time.
What seems to have clinched Ricciardo’s return to the grid is a test he did for Pirelli after the British GP. His best lap would have put him in P2 for the Grand Prix grid. Ricciardo’s first reported reaction to returning to his former team was “just be a legend”, he joked.
“They expect results and performances. I think until I get in the car, it’s hard to define what that is. Is it P8? Is it P14?” the Australian said.
“Obviously there’s two races and then the summer break. I don’t think there’s a ‘you have to do this before August’, but I also don’t expect to get off to a slow start, I want to hit the ground running and try and use what I’ve learned in this time off.”
“It feels a bit like back when I was working my way up through it, through the Red Bull family,” the now 34-year-old added.
That time off came about because he left Renault to join Lando Norris at McLaren, a move that just didn’t work out in the two years he had there, even though, ironically, he won the Italian GP in 2021 with McLaren, while Norris was second. Last year he was not able to perform at the level Norris did, and was replaced for this season by fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri, who says he’s pleased for Ricciardo.
The latter said: “Amazing guy. Very happy for him to be back on the grid.”
Horner said after the Silverstone Pirelli tyre test: “It is great to see Daniel hasn’t lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his sim [simulator] sessions translate on the track.”
“His times during the tyre test were extremely competitive. It was a very impressive drive and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia Alpha Tauri.”
“I’m really happy to welcome Daniel back to the team,” Alpha Tauri team principal Franz Tost said.
“There are no doubts about his driving skills and he already knows most of us, so integrating into the team will be simple and immediate for him.”
“The team will benefit greatly from his experience as he has already won a Formula 1 Grand Prix eight times. I would like to thank Nyck for his invaluable contribution during his time with Scuderia Alpha Tauri and wish him all the best for the future.”
As indicated, F1 can be brutal, something Vettel, a former Red Bull, Ferrari and Aston Martin driver who retired last year, noted.
“I have to be honest, it’s obviously a shame for Nyck,” Vettel told ITV.
“The way it came to an end. I think he got given a great chance, maybe things didn’t happen for him the way he expected or people expected but it is a bit harsh when it comes to a very sudden stop. It’s brutal.”
“Because especially I think Nyck... I mean I met him last year for the first time and he seemed like a really good person and he is a good driver. He won the F2 championship, he won international championships, so he’s well recognised and I hope this doesn’t put a dent in his confidence.”
But Vettel is also pleased for Ricciardo.
“I’m very happy for Daniel. Very happy. I like him,” Vettel said
There may be a dent in the pride of Kiwi driver Liam Lawson, who had high hopes of an F1 drive next year after Marko indicated he was top of his list to replace de Vries if that was to happen. But Lawson has given a considered response to the situation.
“I always wanted to compete in Super Formula and was not surprised to see Red Bull go in a different direction,” he told Motorsport.com.
“My goal was to get a seat for next year. To jump mid-season would have been extremely tough, and in Alpha Tauri’s position, they were wanting someone with experience who has been in Formula 1 for a long time. So I understand their decision.”
“But this [Super Formula] is what I am focused on. Any shot I have at Formula 1 rides on how I do here. So I have to complete the year in the best way possible, and try and win this championship, which is what will give me the chance.”
Lawson may in fact be grateful not to have been thrown in at the deep end halfway through a championship. It could have been swim, as in get good results, or sink.
But it doesn’t mean he has lost any of his passion and ambition to get into F1, despite noting from the outside how brutal it can be. “I just need a seat, and whoever’s seat it is, I don’t really care!”
In terms of international contests in this country, the gulf doesn’t get much greater.