28/06/2023
NEWS STORY
Helmut Marko's admission that Christian Horner was right to have doubts about Nyck de Vries suggests that the Dutch driver is on borrowed time.
Following an unconvincing start to the season, the long break resulting from the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix led to a media frenzy over the youngster's future, with many suggesting that he was on the verge of being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.
Red Bull's Lord High Executioner, Helmut Marko hardly helped matters when he hinted at a Barcelona deadline by which time de Vries had to make a significant improvement.
The deadline came and went, yet even with no significant improvement speculation over de Vries' future appeared to die down.
While Ricciardo has since said that he is willing to return to AlphaTauri, the Australian is understood to not want to make the move until next season.
Meanwhile, Marko has admitted that team boss Horner was never convinced by the Dutch driver.
Speaking on the Inside Line podcast, when asked if he and Horner ever disagree, Marko replied: "Not often, but sometimes we do.
"The last one, I would say de Vries," he added.
"Basically it's AlphaTauri, but we're a big family and we get opinions," he explained. "He (Horner) was not a fan of de Vries... I would say at the moment it looks like he was right."
All of which is sure to give the youngster a significant boost to his already damaged confidence.