“I think Helmut Marko will fire him”: Famous racer fears the worse for F1 driver after terming his start a ‘complete failure’

F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan
Nyck de Vries of Netherlands driving the (21) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT04 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 30, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Following a disastrous start to the season, an F1 driver has been warned that his position may be at risk, according to Russian racing driver Egor Orudzhev.

After a really bad start to the F1 season, Nyck de Vries has been informed that he may lose his position. Despite only joining Alpha Tauri in October last year, the Dutchman's first four races couldn't have gone much worse.

De Vries is presently competing in his maiden complete F1 season. In 2022's Italian Grand Prix, he finished ninth in his first race while on loan to Williams.

The adviser of Red Bull's sister squad Alpha Tauri, Helmut Marko, noticed him since he had accomplished enough. De Vries has had difficulty thus far for his new time.

At the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the 28-year-old finished 14th in his first two races of 2023. However, he failed to finish either of his most recent two races, either at the Australian or Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

"If it goes on like this, then I think Helmut Marko will fire him. Honestly, I expected that the results would be better and that Nick would be closer to Tsunode. But so far this is a complete failure,” Orudzhev wrote in his column on the Championship.

De Vries crashed his Alpha Tauri in both qualifying and the race in Baku the previous weekend. De Vries said that his performance in Azerbaijan was all his fault but t he's ready to make amends this weekend in Miami.


F1 drivers complain that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is "boring" because of the reduced DRS zone

The decision to shorten the DRS zone on the main straight by 100 meters compared to last year, according to Formula 1 drivers, sapped the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Even Mercedes boss Toto Wolff referred to both the sprint and the main event in Baku as "boring." He believes there was less passing than at previous races at the same location.

The FIA has the right to modify the activation point of DRS zones. It is often based on data collected at the venue's most recent event and earlier competitions this season.

The 100-meter cut in Baku was already a source of worry for the drivers, who brought it up in their Friday briefing with race director Niels Wittich. However, no changes were made, and the issue was not addressed for the Grand Prix after the sprint featured little to no overtaking.

One of several drivers who thought the DRS zone wasn't long enough was Lewis Hamilton. The F1 ace was overheard requesting his race engineer Bono for extra power at one point in Sunday's race as he trailed Carlos Sainz.

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