Asked by ITV on Saturday about the replacement of Nyck De Vries by Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri, former driver Sebastian Vettel considered this ousting of the Dutchman quite brutal.
In 2008, during the Italian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel offered AlphaTauri one of the two victories in its history (the other having been brought twelve years later by Pierre Gasly, still in Italy). But the Italian team is going through much more complicated days this year, with a last place in the constructors’ standings after ten Grands Prix, with two small points on the clock, contributed by Yuki Tsunoda. The little sister of the Red Bull team has therefore decided to launch the big maneuvers by replacing Nyck De Vries, who was playing his first year in F1, at 28, with Daniel Ricciardo (34) from the Hungarian Grand Prix last next week until the end of the season.
Vettel: “I hope this kind of hitch won’t affect his career”
Retired since last season, former world champion Sebastian Vettel was asked about it by ITV Saturday, and it is rather divided. “I am very happy for Daniel, very happy. I like him, obviously I raced with him. On the other hand, you also have to be honest. It’s obviously a shame for Nyck, the way it ends. I think he was very lucky. Maybe things didn’t turn out for him the way he expected, or the way people expected. But it’s also a bit harsh when it comes to a very sudden stop like that. It’s rough. I met him last year for the first time and he seemed like a really good person, and he’s a good driver. He won the F2 championship, he won international championships. He is therefore well recognized and I hope that this kind of hitch will not affect his career. People tend to think that, and that’s wrong. Maybe those ten races didn’t go to the quality that they could have. We don’t know why, firstly, from the outside, and secondly, he’s still a very good driver. It’s very hard for him. »
