Tom Coronel, a Dutch racer, has expressed his disagreement with Red Bull’s swift decision to replace Nyck de Vries.
The news of Daniel Ricciardo taking De Vries’ place at AlphaTauri emerged on the day of the Aussie’s Red Bull Silverstone tyre test, and the teams later confirmed the move.
Coronel believes Red Bull acted hastily in severing ties with De Vries, who had been showing improvement.
De Vries entered Formula 1 full-time in 2023 with high expectations, having impressed during his one-off outing for Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.
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However, he struggled to match the performances of his teammate Yuki Tsunoda and made several rookie mistakes, prompting Red Bull to make a change at their sister team.
Coronel argued that De Vries demonstrated a strong performance at Silverstone, despite driving the underwhelming AT04 car, and was closing the gap to Tsunoda, who is in his third season in Formula 1.
He expressed his disagreement with Red Bull’s decision, stating, “In my opinion, it’s way too early to make a decision about a driver when you’re not even halfway through the season.”
Coronel praised De Vries’ racing career and the successes he has achieved in various racing categories.
He emphasised that De Vries deserved a full season to showcase his progress in Formula 1.
Coronel concluded his message by expressing his anticipation for De Vries’ return to the track.
“Racing is cruel and so are the decisions. He had a good race in Silverstone and made progress throughout the season, even with the slowest car on track,” he said.
“He’s not far behind from a teammate who’s having his 3rd year with the team.
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“There’s a lot more than Formula 1, but you deserved to have a full season to show your progress.
“It’s totally understandable you don’t want to do anything with racing at the moment, but I can’t wait to see you back on track buddy,” Coronel wrote on social media.
De Vries, along with Williams rookie Logan Sargeant, was one of only two drivers who failed to score a point in the opening 10 rounds of the 2023 Formula 1 season.