Marko nuances De Vries rumours: 'He got a yellow card, not a red one yet'

Only five races are behind him in the 2023 Formula 1 season, but if the latest rumours are to be believed, rookie Nyck de Vries already has to fear for his seat at AlphaTauri. Helmut Marko responds to the rumours.

According to speculation, De Vries' F1 seat would not only be under pressure, but Daniel Ricciardo would also already be ready to take over. There would even be talk of an ultimatum: if the Dutchman did not perform significantly better during the Barcelona Grand Prix weekend, things might not look rosy for him.

Marko responds to De Vries rumours

Speaking to F1-Insider.com, however, Marko stresses that this rumour needs some nuance. "Nothing will happen in the next three races," states the Red Bull Racing advisor, who incidentally does not deny that De Vries needs to perform better. "We have spoken to De Vries and he is of the same opinion as us: he needs to improve. The gap with teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who is doing extremely well, is too big."

However, the fact that the 28-year-old rookie is not yet performing as expected after five races does not mean that he will soon get the sack. "To speak in football terms: Nyck has received a yellow card, but not yet a red one. If he improves, a driver change will not be an issue," Marko continued.

The 80-year-old Austrian immediately took the opportunity to debunk another rumour. Even if De Vries should eventually have to leave, it would not be Ricciardo who would be first in line. "If it comes down to it, we would fall back on our pool of young drivers. This specifically involves Liam Lawson and Ayumu Iwasa. Ricciardo is not an issue," Marko said.