If humiliating 28-year-old rookie Nyck De Vries by sacking him just 10 races into his Formula 1 career wasn’t enough, the man responsible for delivering the blow is back at it. Almost three weeks after replacing him with Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri, Red Bull taskmaster Helmut Marko has set out to justify his brutal actions. And the fact that Ricciardo is already showing better form than his Dutch predecessor is working in Marko’s favor, legitimizing his statements. But what defense has Marko put up?

In his racing career before F1, De Vries showed a lot of promise—winning the Formula E, Formula 2, and Formula Renault titles. If that wasn’t enough to convince Red Bull to offer him one of its four seats in F1, his F1 debut for Williams at Monza in 2022—where he scored his first (and only) points—did the trick. So when he joined AlphaTauri this season, Red Bull had certain expectations. And when he failed to show progress and results and meet those expectations, Marko didn’t want to hold on to him any longer. In an interview with Motorsport-total.com, Marko said, “We made the move with de Vries because stagnation set in. There was no progress, and he didn’t meet expectations. [Giving him more races to prove himself] just didn’t fit.” [Translated by Google]

In response to the sacking being termed “brutal,” he defended, “What’s brutal about it when the performance isn’t right? We gave him a chance. And there are only 20 Formula 1 drivers. Not everyone can become that.” Whether or not the decision was brutal, Red Bull was definitely hard on De Vries.

When asked about the reasons Red Bull had for having higher expectations for him, Marko said, “[His age is] why other standards apply to him. He’s no longer a junior. At some point in Formula 1, he tested almost all Mercedes-powered chassis. Of course there was a certain amount of know-how there. But that alone is not enough.”

Read More: Nyck De Vries’ Manager Reveals Disrespectful Treatment Meted Out by Red Bull to His Client While Revealing the Forced Reason Behind Unexpected Announcement

But as harsh as Red Bull was to him, De Vries did not go out without a bang. While leaving, he made sure to hit them where it hurt.

Nyck De Vries didn’t go easy on Red Bull either

When Nyck De Vries was offered the AlphaTauri seat till the end of 2024, he was promised extra benefits. What were they? According to him, Red Bull promised him the second seat alongside Max Verstappen for 2025. Evidently, the Milton-Keynes outfit didn’t hold up its end of the bargain (Helmut Marko would argue that De Vries didn’t hold up his end either), and De Vries was furious. So he decided to make a mark while leaving.

If there’s one thing Red Bull might feel a little touchy about, it would be Max Verstappen’s championship win in 2021. And that’s what De Vries targeted. While talking about his ouster, he reportedly said it was “not surprising after Red Bull stole Lewis Hamilton’s eighth title.” Although, De Vries has lately clarified that he did not say any such thing & has not opened up to anybody about his sacking.

Do you believe Nyck De Vries’ sacking was justified?

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