Guillaume Le Goff, the manager of former AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries, has blasted media outlets for reporting ‘fake’ comments made by the Dutch driver.
De Vries was quoted saying that he had been “promised the second Red Bull seat in 2025.”
The 28-year-old also allegedly said that the decision to oust him was “not surprising,” because Red Bull “stole the eight title from Lewis Hamilton.”
Various newspapers and news sites reported that De Vries had made these comments to the Italian press.
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Le Goff insisted these quotes were not only fake, but defamatory.
Speaking to one media source, Le Goff remarked: “Nyck has spoken to absolutely no one, including any Italian media, since the news from Red Bull.
“The news is fake and defamatory.
“Apparently someone wanted to distinguish themselves. We reserve the right to take this further with legal action.
“There will be an official statement from Nyck later this week, but until then we still have to sort out a few things.”
The quotes from De Vries sent shockwaves throughout the F1 world when they were reported yesterday.
The Dutchman was terminated after only 10 races into his rookie season in F1, sparking criticism toward Red Bull from drivers and fans alike.
The manner of his dismissal also came under scrutiny.
Red Bull principal, Christian Horner, revealed that Red Bull unceremoniously fired De Vries in the middle of a Daniel Ricciardo test drive.
Ricciardo impressed Horner during a Pirelli tyre test at Silverstone last week, with De Vries having finished the British GP in 17th.
Horner phoned Marko about Ricciardo’s pace which led to the Red Bull team advisor, Helmut Marko, immediately firing de Vries, according to reports.
The general reaction to Red Bull’s decision was that it was premature and unfair on the Dutch driver who many described as a ‘rookie’.
Marko defended the decision to axe De Vries.
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He commented: “He is already 28, he has a lot of experience and knowledge. In my opinion, Nyck cannot be considered a rookie.
“We expected that this year he would at least perform at the level of Yuki Tsunoda, but this did not happen.
“In fact, he was constantly three-tenths slower and we didn’t see any progress.”