Looks like Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is not happy with the way Red Bull treated Nyck De Vries. The Dutch driver has been a Formula E champion driving Mercedes cars. He sure had a very impressive track record in Formula E. As well as he did in Formula 2 and Karting World Championships. That’s why the 28-year-old driver got his break in Formula One. He could have had a great career in Formula One, but it did not last long.
Moreover, he made his debut in Formula One for Red Bull’s sister team, Alpha Tauri. However, Nyck De Vries could not live up to the expectations. But he got only 10 races to drive for Alpha Tauri. Perhaps it is too less time to judge a driver. However, in these ten races, the Dutch driver could not beat his teammate Yuki Tsunoda once. The Japanese always got the better of him. But was it the only reason why Red Bull replaced Nyck De Vries with Daniel Ricciardo right away?
Toto Wolff Believes Red Bull Deliberately Replaced Nyck De Vries For Daniel Ricciardo
In the meantime, Daniel Ricciardo was waiting for the Red Bull team to come back to racing in Formula One. However, he was not getting his break due to the duo of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. But Checo had not been living up to expectations either after the first four races of the 2023 Formula One season. Hence, there are rumors floating around the grid that Red Bull is planning to replace the Mexican. But the Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes rivals Red Bull wanted to make sure that the Aussie gets into the groove of driving in F1 after a long time.
Hence, it was their strategy to drop Nyck De Vries from their team and replace him with the Aussie. Since the British Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo has been driving for Alpha Tauri. Recently, Mercedes’ boss talking to Sky Sports F1, mentioned that it might have been a different picture if Red Bull had given De Vries a whole season to try out. Who knows if he could have beaten Yuki Tsunoda finally? Toto Wolff believes Nyck De Vries could have been a good choice for Red Bull as well. But the billionaire executive thinks that the rivals did some benchmarking on Daniel Ricciardo to see if he can replace Sergio Perez.
Sergio Perez Has A Lot Of Faith In His Abilities
On the other hand, Sergio Perez believes he can turn things around. Checo does not want to think about the imminent threat of the Aussie taking his place, perhaps as soon as next year. He is concentrating entirely on himself. Moreover, the Mexican noted that he is a winner and he does not like to go through bad weekends. Adding to that, Checo mentioned that he had a good start to the season.
In the second half of the season, he can get back right up there. Sergio Perez adds that if he did not have confidence in himself, he would rather stay home and do something else. Meanwhile, it will be very interesting to see what Daniel Ricciardo is able to do in the second half once racing resumes after the summer break.