Red Bull’s Hot Seat
An FE World Champion axed from F1 for underperforming after 10 races into his first full season in the championship, overshadowed by the return of a beloved race-winning personality.
Nyck De Vries’ departure from Alpha Tauri was a brutal blow from Red Bull management, and not the first time they have done so. Drivers like Jean-Eric Vergne, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, and Daniil Kvyat have also been on the receiving end of the Red Bull drop zone where they have been demoted to sister teams or dropped from the grid entirely. Whether he was given a fair shot in F1, and whether his improvement was looming can be debated, but his door to F1 has seemingly been slammed shut. The Dutchman was seen the morning after the sacking with Mercedes CEO and Team Principal, Toto Wolff, who had supported him as a reserve driver with the Brackley-based team before his signing to Alpha Tauri.
Social media was flooded with positive support for Daniel Ricciardo’s return to track after he spent the season on the sidelines as a Red Bull reserve, and it served as a reminder of the brutality of such a fast-paced sport where chance is a limited luxury; you either bite or get bitten.
Red Bull seems to have faith in Ricciardo with the Australian’s times during testing garnering praise. Whether his time away from a full-time seat has helped him find his speed again, can only be put to the test in the coming races. If he performs, and Perez fails to be on par with his teammate, Ricciardo has a chance to jump into the Red Bull seat.
“Obviously the dream is a Red Bull seat. Of course that was my wish, but you need to be realistic, and if I want to get back into Red Bull it will be a process, and this is the best path for me at the moment.”
If he doesn’t, a well-performing Liam Lawson and Ayumu Iwasa await at the edge of that seat. Lawson is currently full steam ahead to the title of Japanese Super Formula champion, with the New Zealand driver claiming his most recent victory at the Fuji Speedway.
Red Bull advisor, Helmut Marko explained his decision not to replace De Vries with Lawson.
“Liam should finish his [Super Formula] season in Japan in peace.”
Iwasa is in Formula 2 and currently third in the standings, still in contention for the F2 title. He has won three races in the feeder series, but a swap was not viable as the Japanese driver must finish his F2 season to be eligible for his super licence.
“We also considered that with Ricciardo and his experience, he can make different statements about a racing car than Yuki, who has only driven for AT,” said Marko.
Ricciardo’s return has also put pressure on Tsunoda. At his first race of the season, the Australian placed 13th, ahead of a 15th Tsunoda. However, at the Belgian Grand Prix, the Japanese driver finished in 10th place, scoring another valuable point, their first point since April, while his teammate finished 16th. The rest of the season is still to play for, and the pendulum can swing in either direction.
Although that second Red Bull seat seems to be in contention, Marko is confident that Verstappen’s performance is difficult to match.
On the F1 Nation podcast, Marko has only named two drivers from the entire grid who could be close to Verstappen. “Maybe [Fernando] Alonso and [Lewis] Hamilton would be nearer, but nobody could beat him at the moment.”
Red Bull’s game of hot seat is not new to the Formula 1 world. Whilst we have seen such cutthroat nature in the sport, in the modern day, Red Bull takes the flag, and it takes a driver of fortitude to withstand the pressure, and survive.
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Photo credits: Alpha Tauri F1
