De Vries responds to critics after difficult AlphaTauri start

Sam Hall
Tuesday 11 April 2023 14:55

Nyck de Vries has conceded he 'can't please everyone' after receiving criticism for a slow start to his AlphaTauri career.

The Dutchman was thrust into the F1 spotlight after scoring points in a fantastic one-off cameo with Williams at last year's Italian Grand Prix.

This performance saw De Vries linked with vacancies at a number of teams before he eventually left the Mercedes family to link up with the Red Bull sister team.

But after three races, the highly-rated 28-year-old sits at the foot of the standings as one of only two drivers yet to score.

Showing awareness of his critics, De Vries told Formule1.nl: “The fact that people like it is inherent to Formula 1 and the large platform it is.

"Everyone watches, everyone likes it, (so) that is allowed, that is everyone's right and I respect that.

"But you can't please everyone, you have fans and non-fans. I believe that with time it will fall our way and the team and I are working very hard together on that."

De Vries 'not satisfied' despite improvements

De Vries finished 14th at the opening two races of the year and was classified as finishing 15th in Australia, despite failing to reach the chequered flag.

His improvement, however, is far more evident in qualifying, with the Australian Grand Prix marking his first appearance in Q2 for his new team.

Conceding he is not 'satisfied' with his performances to date, De Vries added: “I do see good progress in the last two weekends.

"The qualifications were good twice. If you're a bit in the rear like we are now, sometimes it all just has to fall into place. That is not always self-evident.”

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