Normally, AlphaTauri riders are members of the Red Bull youth program, but next year the team will not have a pilot who has survived the youth series under the patronage of Helmut Marko.
At a press conference on Saturday, team boss Franz Tost explained why the choice fell on Nick de Vries, former member of the McLaren youth program and reserve driver at Mercedes.
Franz Tost: “We chose Nick because of his speed. I know his history, I saw him in karting – in 2010-2011 he won the European and World Karting Championships, he was successful in all categories he competed in.
He won Formula Renault, GP3 and Formula 2, became the Formula E champion. Nick is an experienced driver who has earned the right to drive in Formula 1. I’m really looking forward to him in our car.
De Vries’ debut in Monza played an important, but not decisive role. It was important, but it didn’t open our eyes. Nick has been in the spotlight before. A series of driver transitions from team to team and Red Bull’s decision not to continue with Pierre Gasly have led us to decide that Nick de Vries is the best option, best suited to the team.
Naturally, we included participants from the Red Bull youth program among the candidates. We have Liam Lawson, Ayumu Iwasa, Dennis Hauger in Formula 2, we have Isaac Hajjar in Formula 3, but they all have no experience, they need another year or two in their series and then we will make a decision.
Compared to them, Nick won’t take much time to adjust. I think two pre-season tests will be enough for him. I’m sure he will be competitive from the first race.”
Source: F1 News
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