Why it's too early for AlphaTauri to consider releasing de Vries

OPINION: Only five rounds into the 2023 Formula 1 season, the driver axe is already being sharpened. By his own admission, it hasn’t been the start to life as a full-time grand prix racing driver Nyck de Vries had envisaged. But both AlphaTauri and parent squad Red Bull need to show patience to a driver who can help on multiple fronts

Imagine enduring years of being overlooked for a Formula 1 drive, despite a glittering CV. Finally, that opportunity does come along. But then, five races into that belated F1 career, stories suggest that there's a risk of dropping off the grid once again, amid a difficult start with a capricious car. This is Nyck de Vries' F1 tenure in a nutshell, if recent chatter is to be believed.

There's no escaping that de Vries' start to life with AlphaTauri has been less than felicitous, and the Dutchman has yet to reach the benchmark he set in 2022 during his Monza cameo for Williams in place of Alex Albon, where he made the points with ninth. By contrast, the opening quintet of races has been scoreless, while the usual rookie growing pains with uncompetitive machinery have escalated somewhat in the gruelling Baku-Miami double-header.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.