Nyck de Vries’ complicated start to the season has opened the door to numerous speculations about the Dutch driver’s future, also raising the possibility of a possible replacement if his results do not improve in the space of a few rounds.
Among the possible options there were two names above all: the junior driver Liam Lawson, currently engaged in the Japanese Super Formula category where he is doing well, and Daniel Ricciardo, reserve both for Red Bull and the team from Faenza, for whom he has already made the seat to be ready in case it proves necessary to take over from one of the two official standard-bearers for some reason.
However, AlphaTauri, formerly known as Toro Rosso, has always focused on developing the drivers of its academy, giving an opportunity to those who have shown good potential in the preparatory series. A path that will remain unchanged in the future as well, unless it is believed that none of the youngsters is ready for the transition to Formula 1, as happened substantially this year with the decision to focus on de Vries.
Daniel Ricciardo, third driver, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“The philosophy is quite clear: performance decides. Of course, the team’s philosophy is to train young drivers,” said Franz Tost crediting the team’s future strategy.
Currently, according to the Team Principal, there are some interesting youngsters, but none of them would be ready to make the transition to the higher category. The Japanese Iwasa did well in some Formula 2 rounds, also collecting three victories in this first part of the championship, but what is holding him back is above all his inconstancy: “The young drivers aren’t around at the moment. Some good young pilots are coming, [Ayumu] Iwasa is doing a good job, [Isaak] Hadjar is doing a good job, but it’s just a little too early for them.”
“I see them sooner or later in our team. But if it’s too early now, then maybe we will have to find another solution. But so far it hasn’t been talked about. So far everything is like [al solito] with our team,” added Tost when asked about Ricciardo’s possible transfer to the Faenza team as a factory driver.
Liam Lawson had the chance to test both Red Bull and AlphaTauri in the free practice sessions dedicated to young drivers.
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
In addition to Ricciardo, another name on Red Bull’s notebooks is that of Liam Lawson, currently starring in Japan. The young New Zealander had also previously taken part in the Formula 2 championship, picking up five victories in two years, and in the DTM championship, where he came close to the title. “Liam did a good job when he drove for us last year in Abu Dhabi,” explained Tost, noting that Lawson rode with the team in some practice sessions last season.
“He’s currently doing a good job in Japan too, because the championship is quite tough there. And as I said before, it’s a question of performance. We need to find out which driver is available, mature, educated and ready for an F1 car. This we’ll see. Nothing has been decided at the moment.”
However, it is no mystery that de Vries’ future hangs in the balance, especially if he does not show the improvements that the team expects. “It’s Nyck who decides, not the team. If he improves his performance, why should we change him?”.
Nyck de Vries, Scuderia AlphaTauri, in the drivers’ press conference
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“In F1 every driver is under pressure. We will see how Nyck behaves here and how Nyck behaves at Silverstone, because he knows these circuits. We must not forget that rookie riders nowadays are in a really difficult situation”, added the Team Principal, citing how the first part of this world championship has been rather atypical, generally on street circuits or on tracks where he had never turned.
“If we look at the first part of the season, most of the tracks don’t know them, they’ve never raced in Melbourne in F2 or F3, they’ve never raced in Saudi Arabia or Miami, maybe Baku, but Baku was the sprint race, which means like here [in Austria], FP1, qualifying for the race, qualifying for the sprint race and then the sprint race. Weekends fly by. For rookie riders it’s really very, very difficult. For this reason now, at least, they come to tracks they know: Austria, Silverstone, Spa, Budapest, Monza. And I think this helps more, also to have more self-confidence”.
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