De Vries has been axed and replaced by Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri after just 10 races of the 2023 season.
Though the Dutchman’s performances had been poor, the timing and manner in which his sacking was done has drawn some criticism, especially in the light of the brutal comments from the team’s hierarchy.
Red Bull are notoriously cutthroat when it comes to their young drivers, with the likes of Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly getting dropped in recent years following brief, unsuccessful stints with the team.
These decisions have come back to bite the team somewhat, with Albon, Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr. whom they also let go, going onto prove themselves elsewhere, with Red Bull now forced to look beyond their own driver programme to fill their seats.
Hamilton disagrees with their methods and made that point pretty clear when asked for his thoughts on the axing of De Vries, someone he knows well as the 28-year-old previously served as Mercedes’ test and reserve driver.
‘I’d say that’s how Red Bull works – that’s how Red Bull do it,’ the seven-time world champion bluntly told reporters.
‘I’m definitely surprised to see the decision they took on poor Nyck. But he’s such a talented kid, young man, and such a nice, nice guy as well so I think the future is still bright with him, he’ll have lots of great options to be in the future.’
Hamilton wasn’t the only driver to question Red Bull’s decision, with his old teammate Valtteri Bottas, now of Alfa Romeo, adding: ‘Quite surprised, actually. I’ve been following [whether] there’s been talks or not but I thought it was quite sudden and already before the summer break.
‘But it’s not the first time Red Bull has made decisions like this and they obviously follow their view, what is the best.
‘Obviously, really [a] shame for Nyck. It was quite a short first rookie season unfortunately. That’s F1 sometimes, pretty cut throat.’
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also said: ‘I don’t know, I think it’s obviously very difficult for Nyck. I sent him a text yesterday because it’s I’m sure that it’s a difficult one to take.
‘I’m sad. I think it’s too harsh for Nyck, but obviously also happy to see Daniel back in the paddock. It’s part of Formula 1 but it’s true that it’s very harsh for Nyck.’
MORE : F1 icon names his pick to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull and makes Hungarian Grand Prix predictions
MORE : Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ‘concerned’ about rumours F1 teams have broken the budget cap again
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
var notifyQ = function () { var i = 0, l = awaitingReady.length; for (i = 0; i < l; i++) { awaitingReady[i](); } }; var ready = function (cb) { if (fbApiInit) { cb(); } else { awaitingReady.push(cb); } }; var checkLoaded = function () { return fbApiInit; }; window.fbAsyncInit = function () { FB.init({ appId: '176908729004638', xfbml: true, version: 'v2.10' }); fbApiInit = true; notifyQ(); }; return { 'ready' : ready, 'loaded' : checkLoaded }; })(); (function () { function injectFBSDK() { if ( window.fbApi && window.fbApi.loaded() ) return; var d = document, s="script", id = 'facebook-jssdk'; var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) { return; } js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.async = true; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); } if (window.metro) { window.addEventListener('scroll', injectFBSDK, {once: true, passive: true}); } else { window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', injectFBSDK, {once: true}); } })();
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
