Dan Ticktum picks his side after Nyck de Vries' AlphaTauri sacking

Dan Ticktum

Ticktum picks his side after De Vries' AlphaTauri sacking

Nyck de Vries is now out of a seat after driving just ten races for AlphaTauri in 2023

Harry Smith

Thursday 20 July 2023 11:57

Dan Ticktum has claimed that while Nyck de Vries' sacking from AlphaTauri was harsh, he agrees with Helmut Marko's decision to let the Dutchman go.

Ticktum is already very familiar with De Vries with the pair having faced off during their time in Formula E together.

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De Vries, who is a Formula E world champion thanks to his time with Mercedes, earned a full-time F1 drive for the 2023 season following his immense substitute display for Williams at Monza in 2022.

Unfortunately for the Dutch driver, his spell in F1 lasted just ten races with Helmut Marko axing the 28-year-old in favour of bringing back Daniel Ricciardo for the remainder of the 2023 campaign.

Brutal dismissal for De Vries

Speaking with Total-Motorsport about the sacking, Ticktum stated: "He’s still got the ruthlessness. I get it from his side.

"A team and a company as big as Red Bull, they can’t afford to wait for someone to get up to speed. They need someone to perform straight away.

“Unfortunately, I think the AlphaTauri was obviously a difficult car to drive and Nyck struggled a little bit, so I understand why he’s been kicked out, albeit harsh."

The British Grand Prix was Nyck de Vries' final outing in F1

Ticktum then touched on his own experiences with Marko, who once dismissed him from the Red Bull driver academy.

“I can potentially have bad blood with him with how I was dropped, but I think overall, he just doesn’t have time to delve into the details because he’s so busy.

“If the results aren’t there for whatever reason, they just go, ‘right we will get another driver. There are plenty of other good drivers out there’.

"He doesn’t bother so much with the detail, so I kind of get it to be honest.”