"He's such a talented kid": Lewis Hamilton surprised with Nyck de Vries getting axed early in the season

Lewis Hamilton stated that he was not surprised to see Daniel Ricciardo back on the grid but empathized with Nyck De Vries and his brutal dismissal from AlphaTauri.

Speaking to media, including Sportskeeda, in Hungary, Hamilton recently remarked that sacking De Vries was a harsh decision and hoped for the Dutchman to get better opportunities in the future.

Unsurprised at Ricciardo’s return to the grid, the Briton stated that in 2023, the 34-year-old Australian was present in the paddock more often than not, including driver’s briefings. However, Hamilton expressed his disbelief with the decision taken to axe De Vries after ten races.

Asked if he was surprised to see Ricciardo back on the grid, Hamilton said:

“Not really. Because he’s been there all year. He’s been there in every driver’s briefing this year. Maybe last year he was not but he’s been in every driver’s briefing but not been actually competing, which is obviously because he was a reserve driver in the driver’s briefing. But no I’m not surprised to see him back.”

He added:

“I was definitely surprised to see the decision they took with poor Nyck. He's such a talented kid, not a kid but a young man and such a nice guy as well. So I think his future is still bright for him and he'll have lots of great options, I'm sure.”

Pressed further if the brutal sacking was a result of how F1 worked, Lewis Hamilton said:

“I'd say that's how Red Bull works.”

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Lewis Hamilton believes F1 is only going to get more expensive with time for the working class

Lewis Hamilton reckons the path to F1 is not getting any cheaper for drivers with working-class backgrounds. The 38-year-old remarked that the grid lacked drivers from the working-class groups and that the scenario was unlikely to change in the future.

Asked if Hamilton's foundation Mission44 had any findings on how the sport can shrug off its ‘billionaire boys club’ image, the Briton said:

“Well the goal of Mission 44 is not to change the driver lineup, that’s to improve the pipeline of engineers and give opportunities in some other jobs that are there.”

He added:

“And no, its getting more and more expensive. Do you see any other working class youngsters here? I don't think that’s going to improve, its probably not going to be the case. Unfortunately.”

According to the Mission44 website, the foundation's goal is to educate, empower, and employ talent in the field of STEM and motorsport. Motorsport has been unable to make racing cost-effective at its grassroots, particularly in the junior formula feeder series over the last decade.

Unlike working-class background drivers such as Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, or Fernando Alonso, the sport has seen a surge of drivers from wealthy backgrounds in recent years.