As speculation swirled about his place in Formula 1, AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries admitted he “made too many mistakes” during his rookie season.
Speaking to the media on Thursday ahead of the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, De Vries acknowledged his poor form. “I definitely think that I personally made too many mistakes – I will admit that very openly,” the rider said during a meeting with the media in Monte Carlo.
However, De Vries also believes there are signs of progress and potential.
“I also believe that the pace is strong in some moments and that pushes me and gives me confidence. I haven’t been able to do the execution at the end and haven’t been able to put it together yet, but I’m sure the pace is there,” said the rookie rider. “Similarly, I made too many mistakes to turn them into results, but that is part of the learning process that you go through. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. We are all human, we make mistakes and we move on.”
Another reason to be hopeful this week for De Vries? History in Monaco. As he noted in the team’s media preview, he had raced city streets before. “I’ve raced in Monaco before, in fact my first Formula 2 win came at the Sprint race there in 2017 and in 2019, I won the Featured race from pole position,” said the driver earlier this week.
However, unless he reflects on those results in F1, his status with the team will remain in doubt. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko alluded to speculation about De Vries’ status earlier this month, leaving the door open to contemplating a return to the grid for Daniel Ricciardo.
Marko closed the door on the idea of Ricciardo’s return, stating that the team would look to their roster of young talents like Liam Lawson or Ayumu Iwasa. But Marko did indicate that De Vries needs to improve over the next few races.
“Nothing will happen in the next three races,” emphasized Marko F1-Insider.com. “We have spoken with De Vries and he is of the same opinion as us: He has to improve. The gap with Yuki Tsunoda’s teammate, who is doing a good job, is too big.”
“To use footballer’s language: Nick has a yellow card, but not a red one yet. If he improves, changing riders won’t be a problem.”
De Vries hopes repairs will start this week on the streets of Monte Carlo.