Unlucky for De Vries that Tsunoda is going to perform consistently just now

For now, it has been a difficult start to Nyck de Vries' F1 career. The Dutchman impressed on his debut for Williams by scoring points straight away, but for AlphaTauri that has yet to happen. With Red Bull talents knocking on the door, the pressure is mounting, but fortunately De Vries is showing an upward trend.

De Vries needs time

De Vries' CV is impressive for someone who only got a chance in Formula 1 at 28. The Dutchman won world titles in karting, won Formula 2 and also briefly became Formula E world champion with Mercedes. Yet one thing always stands out in formula cars: De Vries needs some time.

Whether it was his Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, F2 or FE title, never were they achieved in the first season. De Vries always needs one or two seasons before he can fight for the championship. It was clear beforehand that he will not get that time at AlphaTauri. Alongside Yuki Tsunoda, he needs to perform, otherwise there will be plenty of other Red Bull talents lining up to jump in.

Tsunoda is growing

In that respect, it is not easy for De Vries. Tsunoda, who was beaten by Pierre Gasly in his first seasons, seems to have finally found the key to perform consistently. Prior to the season, that was one of the weaknesses that the always constant De Vries was able to take advantage of, but Tsunoda is now impressing so much that Franz Tost even sees him as Sergio Perez's future replacement.

In the first three qualifying sessions, Tsunoda immediately sent a signal. The Japanese was successively seven, three and over two tenths faster in qualifying than his teammate. This difference was also visible in the races, with Tsunoda performing very consistently with two P11s and one P10. De Vries himself did not come close to any points yet and made a blatant mistake in Australia in a duel with Esteban Ocon.

Yet those qualifying sessions did show a clear upward trend. From seven tenths in Bahrain, the difference between the two drivers in Australia was just two tenths. Still too much for someone who will have to beat Tsunoda, but in the third Grand Prix the difference has already more than halved.

Red Bull talents break through

Besides the duel with Tsunoda, the pressure is also increasing from behind. Whereas in recent years Red Bull had few talents who managed to impress in Formula 2, one now stands out again. Ayumu Iwasa is first in the F2 championship in only his fourth year in Europe. The 21-year-old driver is in good shape and has a good chance of getting an F1 seat if he continues this trend. His pole in the rained-out qualifying session in Australia was particularly impressive.

In Japan this weekend, Liam Lawson starts his Super Formula season for Team Mugen. The New Zealander needs to mature further before he is ready for F1, according to Helmut Marko. Lawson won five F2 races in two seasons and finished third in the 2022 championship. That was not enough and so he is aiming for a championship in Japan.

It is a rule that applies to every F1 driver: you have to perform, otherwise you are out. De Vries knows that too and will therefore look positively at his improvement over the first three races. He now has a month to dive into the data and see where he can develop further. With Baku, Monaco and Barcelona, there are three races coming up where he has driven before, in fact he won in Monaco and Barcelona before. Possibly that will help narrow the gap with his teammate.