The sight of orange shirts in Formula 1 crowds has become very common in recent seasons, as Max Verstappen continues to establish himself as one of the F1 greats.
The Dutchman has won the past two drivers’ championships and at the young age of 25, he has the potential to go down as one of the greatest drivers of all time.
These orange shirts and flares in the crowd might not just be in support of Verstappen in 2023 however, as the 25-year-old will be joined on the grid by fellow Dutchman Nyck de Vries.
The new AlphaTauri driver shocked the F1 world last season at Monza, where he stood in for Williams driver Alex Albon and stunningly finished in P9 in his debut race, despite driving a car that looked destined to finish at the back of the grid.
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This result made the 28-year-old become hot property in F1 and while Williams were reportedly interested in signing the Dutchman permanently, he opted to sign for AlphaTauri.
It has now been suggested that Red Bull could be in line for a Dutch driver pairing in the future, should De Vries impress during his time with their sister team AlphaTauri.
Despite being older than Verstappen, De Vries has admitted that he sees the Red Bull driver as somewhat of a big brother, having shared a strong friendship with Verstappen ever since their time in the junior categories.
The natural pathway for a successful AlphaTauri driver is for them to move to Red Bull, with Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sebastian Vettel all making this move, albeit with varied levels of success.
While it has been suggested that at 28, De Vries could be too old to make the move to Red Bull, the likes of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are proving that drivers can perform at an extremely high level at an advanced age.
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With Sergio Perez’s Red Bull contract expiring at the end of 2024, this could line up perfectly for De Vries to make the move to Red Bull, following two seasons with AlphaTauri.
The 28-year-old will face tough competition for a spot next to Max Verstappen however, with both Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris being heavily linked to a move to replace Perez.
While Ricciardo does look like an outside shout for the role, Norris is certainly admired by Red Bull, meaning that De Vries will have to impress significantly during his time with AlphaTauri to be considered for a role with the energy drink giants.