Lewis Hamilton slams Red Bull in scathing criticism of brutal Nyck de Vries axe

20 July 2023 , 15:44

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Nyck de Vries lost his AlphaTauri seat after just 10 races with the team (Image: Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton delivered a scathing criticism of Red Bull's decision to axe Nyck de Vries just 10 races into his AlphaTauri career.

The Dutchman was Helmut Marko's preferred choice to replace Pierre Gasly at the team this season. And it was the Austrian who delivered the news to De Vries last week that his services would no longer be required.

The 28-year-old had failed to score a point in his 10 outings for the team. And Marko bluntly stated afterwards that he was not convinced that De Vries had the pace to cut it in Formula 1.

In his place for the rest of this season is Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie was reserve for Red Bull in the first part of the year and well-placed to step in at short notice for the chance to revive his own F1 career.

The switch was the hot topic of discussion in the Hungarian Grand Prix paddock on Thursday, with every driver and team principal asked for their thoughts. Understandably, many have been reluctant to give anything more than a generic response, sympathetic towards De Vries and pleased for Ricciardo.

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But Mercedes racer Hamilton was not afraid to make a cutting remark about the ruthless way in which Red Bull operate when it comes to the drivers at their two teams. "I'd say that's how Red Bull works – that's how Red Bull do it," said the seven-time world champion bluntly.

And he went on to suggest that Red Bull might have been preparing for this eventuality, given how present Ricciardo has been up to now in the paddock.

Lewis Hamilton was critical of Red Bull's treatment of their drivers (Getty Images)

Hamilton added: "Ricciardo's been here all year, he's been in every drivers' briefing this year but not actually competing which is rare, you don't normally see a reserve driver in the drivers' briefing. I'm not surprised to see him back."

He went on to express his sympathy for De Vries, who he worked with previously when the Dutchman was a reserve driver for Mercedes. Hamilton said of his former colleague: "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."

Daniel Moxon