Toto Wolff and George Russell agree over F1 star's future in swipe at Red Bull
George Russell and Toto Wolff shared their sympathy for Nyck de Vries after the Dutchman was overlooked by AlphaTauri in his homeland.
De Vries started this season racing for the team. But after 10 Formula 1 races without scoring a single point, ruthless Red Bull axed him and brought in the more experienced Daniel Ricciardo.
However, the Aussie himself is now sidelined after picking up an injury last week. He crashed in practice ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix and, after making the trip to a local hospital, it was revealed that he had broken a bone in his hand which required surgery.
AlphaTauri needed a replacement at short notice and De Vries was in Zandvoort for his home Grand Prix. But instead of bringing back their former driver, who has experienced driving the AT04 this year, the team instead turned to Red Bull junior Liam Lawson to make his F1 debut.
De Vries, a former Mercedes junior, was spotted in the team's garage over the course of the weekend. And team boss Wolff lamented the fact that the 28-year-old is sitting on the sidelines rather than racing.
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He told reporters: "I think he deserves to be on the grid. The moment you're not feeling confident in a car over a prolonged period, the more pressure you put on yourself, the less good you perform. And I think this happened. He's quick. If you win F3 and F2 here is high potential and he was never able to show it."
Meanwhile, Mercedes driver Russell shared his opinion that no other team on the grid would have pulled the trigger as early as Red Bull. "I wouldn’t have expected it in any other team, said the Brit.
"Obviously, we know how Red Bull operate and you need to respect how they do things. I didn't follow Nyck closely during his time in AlphaTauri, but I obviously saw the reports and the things that Helmut [Marko] said and I think it's a difficult place to go if you're lacking the confidence.
"I think they didn't help him to gain his confidence, he was in a difficult position from where he started so I feel bad for him. I do think he's Formula 1 level but didn't get the opportunity that he deserved."
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