In the span of a week, Nyck de Vries has gone from having a seat in F1, to being dropped in place of fan favorite and eight-time race winner Daniel Ricciardo. It is just further evidence of how brutal the championship can be, and now the Dutchman has become the latest in a long list of drivers that have been swallowed up and chewed back out by the Red Bull program in motorsport.
Although the 27-year-old had a challenging start to his first full-time F1 season and there were rumors his seat was under threat, not many expected it to be so sudden and in the middle of the European season. Before the sudden driver change, de Vries spoke with Sports Illustrated at the British Grand Prix about his F1 experience so far, how he has been dealing with the intense media pressure and why he won’t be swapping four wheels for two any time soon.
If you looked at de Vries’ racing resume, you’d expect he would’ve made it into F1 sooner than 27 years old. With several big and respected championship wins under his belt, including FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula E, de Vries finally got his go racing in the “pinnacle of motorsport” last season.
