AlphaTauri team boss Tost on De Vries: 'Very difficult choice'

Franz Tost, AlphaTauri's team boss, reacts to the dismissal of Dutchman Nyck de Vries in Formula 1. He feels that the best class of motorsport is a very difficult environment for newcomers, he told Formula.hu.

Firing De Vries

The decision to sack De Vries has been anything but an easy one, Tost says. "Believe me, it was a very, very difficult decision, because Nyck is a fantastic person with whom I have a very good relationship. He is also an excellent driver."

"It means that when a young driver comes to F1, he has to be very professional. Add to that the current F1 field is of a very, very high level, there is absolutely no one I would say does not fully deserve to bean F1 driver," Tost said.

Ricciardo knows more circuits than De Vries

"In the second half of the year there will again be many circuits that Nyck does not know, and we factored that into the decision-making process because it is a big disadvantage. Daniel Ricciardo knows the circuits and that's one of the reasons we made the decision," the AlphaTauri team boss said.

Next weekend will see the Hungarian Grand Prix. So next to Yuki Tsunoda, not De Vries but Ricciardo will sit. This also takes some getting used to for the Japanese driver. He had a learning experience together with the 28-year-old Dutchman.