Mercedes-AMG team principal and CEO Toto Wolff declared his support for recently sacked Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries, who was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo ten races into his rookie season after a string of subpar performances.
The Mercedes boss said he is a big fan of the Dutchman because of his enormous intelligence and shared that he has always contributed a lot to the development of Mercedes cars.
De Vries was a former reserve driver for Mercedes-AMG since the 2020 season before filling in for Pierre Gasly's vacant seat in AlphaTauri after the Frenchman moved to Alpine for the 2023 season.
"I do feel sorry for him. He called me Monday morning to ask if I had time for coffee. I did. On our team, all positions have been filled, but we will continue to support him where we can," the 51-year-old executive said in an interview with Sky Sports.
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Toto Wolff and Nyck de Vries spotted together
Wolff and de Vries were spotted together in Monaco the next day after it was officially announced that AlphaTauri was replacing the Dutchman with Ricciardo.
Toto Wolff and Nyck De Vries seen in Monaco today 👀 pic.twitter.com/pc4LlwCgO9
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News (@MercedesNewsUK) July 12, 2023
Wolff believes if management had given de Vries the whole season for AlphaTauri, he might have been a good candidate for the second Red Bull seat behind Max Verstappen.
He added that Red Bull could also observe Ricciardo to see if he can be a viable option for the main team.
"I think Red Bull wants to chart how fast Ricciardo is, to see if he can possibly take over Checo's seat."
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