Christian Horner denies Nyck de Vries final F1 farewell with BRUTAL Daniel Ricciardo swap confession

Christian Horner

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Horner denies De Vries final F1 farewell with BRUTAL Ricciardo swap confession

Christian Horner has shed some light on Nyck de Vries' AlphaTauri departure

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Tuesday 18 July 2023 20:27

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Christian Horner has claimed that there was 'no point' in allowing Nyck De Vries to take part in his home race at the Dutch Grand Prix next month, even if it would have allowed him the chance to say 'goodbye' to his fans.

Daniel Ricciardo has replaced De Vries at AlphaTauri with immediate effect as he joins Red Bull's sister team 'on loan' for the remainder of the season.

De Vries was one of only two drivers yet to score a point – alongside Logan Sargeant – and the Faenza-based team had seen enough.

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Some were surprised at just how quickly the Dutchman was replaced, with fans pointing out that after Hungary and Belgium, De Vries would have been able to at least take part in his home race.

But for Horner, he believes that waiting any longer would have been a waste of time for all parties.

Horner: De Vries was just a stopgap

“Look, Nyck is a very capable driver," he told the F1 Nation podcast. "A Formula E champion, a Formula 2 champion, he’s obviously got a lot of experience, he’s not a young driver as such from an age perspective.

“And I just didn’t see how it fitted within the junior programme. It was almost a stopgap. There was a high expectation on him, because while inexperienced in Formula 1 he is obviously a very experienced driver.

“And I think there was a general feeling that Nyck wasn’t quite hitting the mark."

"It all happened a little bit quicker than expected, bearing in mind that we hadn’t completed the test,” Horner added.

“Helmut [Marko] spoke with Nyck, he was the one that obviously had recruited him, he was the one that spoke with Nyck on about lap 11 of the test, I think.