Nyck de Vries’ position at AlphaTauri seems uncertain as concerns are being raised about his performance just four races into his first full-time season in Formula 1.
Russian racing driver Egor Orudzhev has joined the growing chorus of experts and pundits who have noticed the 28-year-old Dutchman’s struggles at the team.
Orudzhev’s assessment is that de Vries may be at risk of losing his seat. For instance, during the Baku Grand Prix, he was involved in accidents during both qualifying and the race.
“If it goes on like this, then I think Helmut Marko will fire him,” Orudzhev told Russia’s Championat.
“Honestly, I expected that the results would be better and Nyck would be closer to (Yuki) Tsunoda. But so far it’s been a complete failure.”
Looking at de Vries’ points score, it’s evident that de Vries is struggling as he has failed to secure a single point so far this season, alongside fellow rookie Logan Sargeant.
Nyck de Vries speaking to De Telegraaf newspaper after the Azerbaijan Gp explained: “Completely my fault, completely my responsibility. A very stupid and unnecessary mistake.”
“I can only look at myself and can’t point at anyone else, so I have to bear the consequences. I’m not going to make excuses,” he insisted.
“In English, they say ‘When it rains, it pours’. Fortunately, there is already another race now in Miami, ” remarked de Vries as he looks set to redeem himself.
Jan Lammers, a former Formula One driver and Dutch GP manager, also shares the opinion that Nyck de Vries needs to improve his performance urgently.
“If Alonso or Hamilton does it, they are forgiven right away,” he told NOS. “They also have a reputation for not doing that sort of thing, but for Nyck it’s the last thing he needs.
“It’s a merciless world,” Lammers insisted, “and the truth is that the car was good enough for a point. So when it’s good enough for a point and you don’t score, when will you score then? He had a chance to perform well and he doesn’t.”
In the previous season, de Vries worked as the reserve driver for Mercedes. According to Lammers, de Vries was fortunate when Williams required a last-minute replacement at Monza.
In his debut race, he scored two points which caught the eye of Red Bull, the owner of Alpha Tauri.
“At Monza, he had the fastest car on the straight which was his stroke of luck to draw attention to himself,” said Lammers. “It’s why he got this seat.
“He is not so much putting pressure on myself now, but I think the pressure is coming from Franz Tost and Helmut Marko,” he added.
