Marko brutally labels world champion his ‘biggest mistake’

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has labelled Nyck de Vries the “biggest mistake” of his career.

2019 Formula 2 champion de Vries was signed to race for AlphaTauri in 2023 having impressed during his unexpected debut in Italy the year before with Williams. 

However, de Vries struggled to get up to speed and was convincingly beaten by Yuki Tsunoda during their stint together.

The Dutchman was replaced halfway through the season by Daniel Ricciardo and has since returned to Formula E – a series in which he became world champion during the 2020-21 season.

Speaking to Autosprint, Marko, who is heavily involved in the driver line-up decisions at Red Bull, was asked if he would changed decisions of his career with the knowledge he has now.

“My biggest mistake? No doubt about it, it’s Nyck de Vries,” Marko said. 

“He did very well on his debut for Williams in Monza. But once he got to AlphaTauri, he didn’t progress. 

“He had an incredible track record, FIA F2 champion, also Formula E world champion, but with us the stopwatch said Nyck was the wrong choice. And in trying to go faster, he made mistakes.”

De Vries endured a difficult Formula E campaign last year, ending the season 18th in the drivers’ standings – by far his lowest position in the all-electric series.