F1 News: Helmut Marko Fuels Nyck de Vries Rumours - "He Needs To Improve"
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has added more fuel to the Nyck de Vries rumours which have been circulating this week, confirming who the Dutch driver will be replaced by if he does lose his seat.
Although he has tried to diffuse the rumours surrounding the ultimatum if the Dutch driver doesn't significantly improve his performance in the next three races, he will be losing his seat with the AlphaTauri team, Marko has kept the pressure on de Vries and has confirmed who would replace him.
The Red Bull advisor has explained the situation in a recent interview with F1 Insider, saying:
“Nothing will happen in the coming races.
“We talked to de Vries and he agrees with us: he needs to improve. The gap to teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who is doing great, is too big.
“To speak in football player language, Nyck got the yellow card, but not the red one yet. If he improves, there will be no problem.”
Amongst the rumours this week was word of de Vries being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo who is looking to make a return to a permanent seat on the grid next year. However, Marko has confirmed that if de Vries was to be replaced it would be by one of the Red Bull junior drivers. He continued:
“In the worst-case scenario, we can fall back on our pool of young talent.
“We are talking about Liam Lawson and Ayumu Iwasa, not Ricciardo."
De Vries is currently sitting in last place in the drivers' standings and is yet to put some points on the board, which he will be looking to do in the next few races before the summer break.
The next important F1 date is 19 - 21 May for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.