Helmut Marko has responded for the first time about the rumors about Nyck de Vries. The Dutchman would be under pressure at AlphaTauri and would only have three races left to significantly improve his results. Otherwise it could be the end of the story for the former champion of Formula 2 and Formula E.
Marko immediately dismisses that of those three races in conversation with F1-Insider. “Nothing will happen for the next three races,” explains Red Bull Racing’s motorsport chief. There has been a conversation with De Vries. And he agrees he needs to do better. The distance to Yuki Tsunoda, who is doing fine, is too great. To talk in football jargon: Nyck has only received a yellow card, not yet a red one. If he improves, a driver change is out of the question.’
However, should it come to a driver change, Daniel Ricciardo does not have to count on a call from Marko. ‘In the worst case, we would fall back on our pool of young talent. It’s specifically about Liam Lawson and Ayumu Iwasa. Ricciardo is not a subject,” Marko is firm. Mick Schumacher, reserve driver at Mercedes, is also not in the picture. “Toto Wolff is responsible for him.”
In addition to De Vries, Sargeant is also under pressure; Wolff calls for Schumacher to return
It is an interesting jump that Marko makes. According to F1-Insider, Wolff would try to convince Williams team boss and former right-hand man James Vowles to allow Schumacher to return to Formula 1. The German lost his seat at Haas after last season and Wolff is only too happy to hire Vowles’ confidant Logan Sargeant put aside for Schumacher’s return.
