De Vries from Mercedes to Red Bull: 'Sad to see where he goes'

Nyck de Vries makes the spicy switch from Mercedes to Red Bull. Although people at Mercedes would have preferred the Dutchman to join another brand, he is being granted the switch.

On Saturday, it was announced that De Vries will race for AlphaTauri in 2023. Red Bull Racing's sister team saw a spot vacated by Pierre Gasly 's departure and chose the talented Dutchman as his replacement. A spicy move, as De Vries has worked for Mercedes in recent years.

De Vries to rival

''It might be unfortunate when you see where he is going, but that is no different. I think he deserves this opportunity,'' said Mike Elliott in conversation with Motorsport.com. Mercedes' technical director praises the man born in Sneek. For instance, he is said to have been brilliant in the pit box and a really nice guy to work with.

Yet De Vries also takes information with him to Red Bull. De Vries drove for Mercedes' Formula E team for two years, but above all he was also heavily involved with the F1 team. For instance, he clocked a lot of miles in the simulator, drove a test for the team and attended many briefings. That information may come in handy for Red Bull.

In that respect, Mercedes is also not extremely happy that De Vries will get a chance at AlphaTauri, but also knows that Nyck's information will not be very shocking for Red Bull. Elliott does think De Vries can share information about the way they work together, processes and systems at Mercedes. However, this is not of crucial value and so the Mercedes chief wishes De Vries good luck above all.