P1racenews AI automatic summary:
The Formula 1 season began with what can surely be called a unicum: two Dutchmen in Formula 1. Nyck de Vries didn’t make the finish line in the end, Giedo van der Garde discusses whether Red Bull’s choice was justified.
Unfortunately, Nyck de Vries will have to give up his seat to Daniel Ricciardo after ten Formula 1 Grands Prix in 2023, according to an exclusive interview with Giedo van der Garde. Helmut Marko and his team were not pleased with de Vries’ performance, and it seems that the Austrian boss is unyielding when it comes to his decisions. Van der Garde, however, is torn on the matter, acknowledging that on paper, Ricciardo and Liam Larson may have shown enough to justify Red Bull/AlphaTauri’s choice, but it’s not entirely fair to judge de Vries solely based on that. The former F1 driver explains that the AlphaTauri car had issues at the beginning of the season, and even Yuki Tsunoda struggled with it. De Vries was under immense pressure and constantly reminded by Marko that he needed to do better, be faster, and outperform Tsunoda, which surely took a toll on his performance. Van der Garde believes that de Vries deserved more time and that he is a talented and dedicated driver. He also speculates that de Vries could have contributed to AlphaTauri’s improvement in the constructors’ standings if given more time to find his rhythm.
