'It Hurt For A While': Nyck De Vries Reflects On His Departure From AlphaTauri

Monday, 22 January 2024 at 07:00

2023 AlphaTauri driver Nyck De Vries recently reflected on his departure from AlphaTauri and revealed how he feels about it now.

Nyck De Vries's dream came true ahead of the season 2023 as he got a contract with AlphaTauri to race for the team during the 2023 season.

However, the Dutch driver failed to score points in the first ten races of the season, and the Red Bull and AlphaTauri management lost patience quite quickly, which resulted in his replacement.

The 28-year-old recently admitted he was aware there were aspects that he could have improved, and the decision didn't come as a total surprise to him. De Vries avoided media for a while, but in a recent interview with Formule1.nl, he said:

"It's not like I took a long break from motorsport after leaving F1 . Only in terms of media. But in the meantime I have always been and remain involved in motorsport."

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Asked how hard it was to accept what happened, the Dutchman replied it obviously hurt for a while. However, his career continues, and the driver got a new exciting opportunity to race for the Toyota Gazoo Racing in the 2024 World Endurance Championship.

"it hurt for a while, but that doesn't mean everything stops. Life is a journey, this was part of it. You develop as a person through all kinds of experiences. As you get older and you experience more, you may put things more into perspective."

Another Dutch former F1 driver, Giedo van der Garde, suggested De Vries could have done as well as the other three AlphaTauri drivers towards the end of the season if Helmut Marko had a bit more patience. The 29-year-old added:

"Obviously the messages I have received and the support I have received are nice. I really appreciate that too."