16/07/2023
NEWS STORY
Sebastian Vettel believes that AlphaTauri's sacking of Nyck de Vries mid-season was "harsh" and brutal".
Of course, the Dutch youngster wasn't the first Red Bull associated driver to get the chop and he is unlikely to be the last.
Indeed, Vettel, who made his F1 debut with BMW Sauber at the 2006 United States Grand Prix was to replace Scott Speed at Toro Rosso mid-season the following year.
Speaking at Goodwood, where he is running a number of cars from his collection, the four-time world champion admitted to having mixed feelings about this week's news that former teammate Daniel Ricciardo is to replace de Vries at the Faenza-based outfit.
"I'm very happy for Daniel, very happy," he told ITV. "I like him. Obviously I raced with him, and I met him at the test when I was shaking down the McLaren for this weekend. I'm very, very happy for him.
"On the other hand, you have to be honest... it's obviously a shame for Nyck, the way it comes to an end.
"I think he was given a great chance," he continued. "Maybe things didn't happen for him the way he expected, or people expected. But it's also a bit harsh when it comes to a very sudden stop like that. It's brutal.
"I met him last year for the first time," he said of the Dutch youngster, "and he seemed like a really good person, and he is a good driver. He won the F2 championship, he's won international championships. So he's well recognised and I hope that this doesn't give a dent to his career. People tend to do that, and that's not right.
"Maybe those ten races didn't go according to how good they could have been. We don't know why, first of all, from the outside, and second, he is still a very good driver. So I have to also sympathise with the fact it's very harsh for him, and I hope that people don't see that dent."