Motorsports Mondial

HELLO RIC. GOODBYE NYCK

The Marko Machete strikes again. Dutch Formula 2 and Formula E Champion out of fashion at Alpha Tauri. The new sharp dressed man is Daniel Ricciardo.

Photo: FIAFormula2.com.

On the sidelines. Nyck de Vries has been discarded by Red Bull from their junior squad Alpha Tauri. His replacement is a man who was discarded by McLaren last season, Daniel Ricciardo.

The rumors and vultures were circulating over Nyck de Vries time at the Faenza-based team. Red Bull has now confirmed he has been released ‘effective immediately.’

His replacement starting with the Hungarian Grand Prix is comeback kid Daniel Ricciardo. His performance in the Pirelli tire test at Silverstone on Tuesday in a Red Bull convinced Dr. Marko “the Honey Badger” did not lose his mojo at McLaren. The eight-time Grand Prix winner posted time good enough for the front row on Sunday at Silverstone.

Nyck de Vries became everyone’s darling based on his last minute debut in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last year. Replacing a sick Alex Albon, the one-time McLaren junior drove his Williams to ninth place finish to score a couple of points.

This performance and encouragement from Max led to a meeting with Dr. Marko and de Vries was able to realize “dream of my life.”

That dream started to come undone race-by-race as he was unable to match quick but erratic teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

In the season opener in Bahrain, in a field of 20 drivers de Vries qualified 19th. Sure, the 2023 Alpha Tauri is not a rocket ship but his teammate was able to start 14th on the grid. In the race he was a lap down in 14th. Yuki was first man outside the points in 11th.

On the fast Jeddah street circuit he improved his qualifying performance by a position to start 18th in Round 2. Both Alpha Tauri drivers finished in the same positions as in Sakhir, Yuki 11th and de Vries almost 10s behind in 14th.

Land down under hosted Round 3 and de Vries progressed to Q2 and qualified 15th for the Australian Grand Prix. He was involved in an argy bargy with the Alpine of Esteban Ocon on lap 10. Later, with two laps to go he was taken out in a collision with American rookie driver Logan Sargeant.

Round 4 was in Baku, Azerbaijan. In the Land of Fire de Vries weekend went down in flames. In the sprint race, after qualifying 18th, he played ‘let’s get physical’ – a total no, no with Dr. Marko – with his teammate on the opening lap and went on to finish 14th. In the Grand Prix on Sunday he was out on lap 9 of 51 laps after an unplanned meeting with the barriers. Jolyon Palmer’s assessment was “de Vries ‘ tough start to life in Formula One gets a little bit harder.”

His Miami Beach Rhumba provided some sunshine as he out-qualified Tsunoda to start 15th, two places ahead of his teammate. Dark clouds soon returned as he locked up and made contact with the McLaren of Lando Norris on the opening lap. When the 57-lap race was over de Vries was 18th while teammate Tsunoda had climbed to 11th place.

Sunny side of the street. 12th in Monaco produced de Vries’ best finish in his short Formula 1 career. The photo shows him on his way to victory in the principality in Formula 2.

The streets of Monte Carlo were familiar hunting and winning grounds for the now beleaguered driver. De Vries had taken wins in the principality in Formula 1’s official feeder series Formula 2. In the Monaco Grand Prix he qualified and finished 12th, a lap down to his winning and fellow Flying Dutchman Max Verstappen. Only consolation was Yuki with brake issues finished 15th. One of only two races he would finish ahead of his Japanese teammate.

In the Spanish Grand Prix, de Vries started 14th just ahead of his teammate. Tsunoda turned the tables in the race, going on to finish 12th while de Vries was a lap down in 14th. This meant no points after seven races for the driver who was so impressive in Parco Monza. Definitely, not what the Doctor (of Jurisprudence) ordered!

The Formula 1 circus came to Canada last month for the first of four races in North America. It was a pointless weekend for the team, Nyck qualified 17th and Yuki 19th. While Tsunoda was able to climb to 14th at the end de Vries again finished a lap down in 18th.

The heat was on and vultures had taken to the skies. The support and comfort from the Red Bull management came in the sarcastic comment from Dr. Marko that he and Christian Horner disagreed on the hiring of de Vries, saying Horner was right – he did not want the once wunderkind of karting who took three years to win the Formula Renault Euro cup – in the Alpha Tauri team.

Next round was on Red Bull’s home soil, the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. In the sprint race on Saturday, he finished 17th just behind his teammate. De Vries started the Grand Prix on Sunday from the pit lane following work on the car in Parc Ferme conditions. He again finished 17th. but a lap down this time.

Silverstone was the birthplace of Formula 1 in 1950. In 2023, it delivered the final nail in the coffin for Nyck de Vries’ fledgling Formula 1 career. He qualified 19th, thanks to Kevin Magnussen stopping on the track, and promoted to 18th on the grid as Bottas was disqualified after his car was unable to provide a 1.0 liter sample of fuel. In the race de Vries’ Alpha Tauri was the last car running in 17th at the end of a thrilling race on the former RAF bomber base.

No points from ten races, unable to trouble his teammate provided the perfect prescription to the good Doctor of Motorsports at Red Bull to jettison his 28-year-old Dutch driver.

The Boulevard of Broken Dreams at Red Bull is very long. Many talented drivers have taken arduous journeys on it; Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Scott Speed, Brendon Hartley, Alex Albon, Daniil Kvyat.

Spanish teenage sensation Jaime Alguersuari was thrown in the piranha pool by Red Bull after only a few races in the World Series by Renault. He described the experience as “going to the slaughterhouse.”

The firing of Nyck de Vries before the season is even half over is proof positive that Red Bull abattoir is working at high efficiency.

– – Nasir Hameed.