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Red Bull had to release De Vries exit news early

'Red Bull had to release news on De Vries exit earlier than planned'

12 July 2023 at 18:54
Last update 12 July 2023 at 20:50
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  • GPblog.com

After an early exit at McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo returns to the Formula 1 grid earlier than expected. Nyck de Vries was sidelined by AlphaTauri after just ten races, after Helmut Marko had already criticised the driver several times. According to ESPN, the Dutchman got the bad news during Red Bull Racing's Pirelli tyre test.

The US sports medium reports that everything gained momentum when Ricciardo took a seat in the RB19 for the Pirelli tyre test at Silverstone. After just an hour, Christian Horner reportedly made a phone call to Helmut Marko, telling him how impressive the Australian's pace was.

News about De Vries leaked out

After this, Marko is said to have called back with the news that De Vries had just been sacked. After Marko's call, the news leaked out to Dutch media, where the first rumours of the 28-year-old driver's dismissal appeared on Tuesday. This would have forced Red Bull Racing to bring out the news earlier than intended.

There was much talk about the pace Ricciardo showed during the tyre test. His best time on paper would have been good for the front row of the grid at the British Grand Prix, but it should be noted that both the conditions and the type of tyres were different from the situation during the Silverstone race weekend.

Regardless, Red Bull Racing was impressed by the strong form of Ricciardo, who had been going through a tough period after his problematic time at McLaren, where he mostly drove in the shadow of Lando Norris. For Ricciardo, the tyre test appeared to be an audition for a permanent seat at Red Bull's sister team, where the Australian eventually hopes to return alongside Max Verstappen.