Marko barely thought about De Vries: 'After Monza, everything changed'

Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko is happy with the experience AlphaTauri is bringing in with the arrival of Nyck de Vries. The Dutchman was not high on Marko's list before his sudden debut in Italy.

Speaking to Motorsport.com Marko let it be known that he is happy with De Vries' arrival at AlphaTauri. For its part, Red Bull's sister team is actually losing an experienced driver in Pierre Gasly, who will switch to Alpine in 2023.

At 27 years old, De Vries is relatively old for a debutant in Formula 1, but that could also be his advantage, according to Marko. The Friesian driver could be the designated team leader for 2023, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda is the driver with the most Formula 1 experience. De Vries has to rely mainly on F1 testing and simulator work for Mercedes and its customer teams. According to Marko, De Vries has more technical experience than the Japanese driver.

Remarkably, before the Italian Grand Prix, De Vries was actually not really on the list of potential replacements for Gasly. The foray at Monza changed a lot, according to Marko. At the time, De Vries stepped into the Williams of Alexander Albon, who was in hospital due to appendicitis.

After that race, De Vries had dinner with Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver said De Vries should call Marko, which he did. Not much later, the two met in Graz, Austria. From that conversation, Marko immediately got the feeling that De Vries has the right approach that belongs to the Red Bull family.