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Red Bull have reportedly lined up Dutch driver Nyck de Vries to replace Pierre Gasly at their sister team AlphaTauri. If reports from AUTOhebdo are to be believed.
De Vries and Helmut Marko, advisor and head of Red Bull's driver development, were seen together and have reached an agreement for next season. Red Bull plan to let Gasly go to Alpine and replace him with De Vries. The Dutch driver is expected to race alongside Yuki Tsunoda at Alpha Tauri next season.
There have been a few driver movements in F1 this season. Fernando Alonso's move to Aston Martin was a shocker, so was the move from Oscar Piastri to McLaren. Colton Herta was supposed to be lined up for a drive at McLaren and then at AlphaTauri.
Marko has, however, revealed that Red Bull have given uppursuing Herta because of the lack of superlicense points and F1 not giving an exemption. Since then, the focus seems to have shifted to De Vries. The driver had a strong debut at the Italian GP in Monza last weekend, bagging a tenth-place finish.
That has made De Vries an attractive proposition, with Williams emerging as one of the options, Alpine inviting him to a private test, and Red Bull also entering the fray.
There is a certain divergence in the way Red Bull have been looking for prospective drivers recently. Herta was a left-field maverick choice, but it still meant the team was giving a shot to a young talent.
De Vries is a strange option, as the 27-year-old is no spring chicken and is much older than Tsonada. Moreover, it remains to be seen if the team is looking at De Vries as a long-term option - a possible Sergio Perez successor. If he makes the move, it will be interesting to hear Red Bull's logic behind signing De Vries to AlphaTauri.
Red Bull impressed by Nyck de Vries' debut at Monza?
There is a possibility that just like other teams, De Vries' debut at Monza has left Helmut Marko impressed.
The Dutch driver had a spectacular debut at Monza, where he outperformed Nicholas Latifi and scored points on his debut. The Dutch driver was quite happy with his debut himself, saying:
"I'm feeling really good about today and think it was crucial to get the start right and a clean run into lap one. I got into a DRS train which helped to stick with the pack; however I think the pace was really good and we made a good call on strategy and tyre management."
Being adjudged the Driver of the Day on his debut was certainly a surprise for De Vries, and the Dutch driver was very happy with the way his first race went. He said:
"Driver of the day makes me so happy, and I'm very pleased and thankful that I got given the opportunity, and I grabbed it with both hands. It was a great day for the team, and whilst grid penalties played in our favour, ultimately, we did a great race, so I'm very happy for everyone in the team and for myself."
De Vries moving to AlphaTauri will be a surprise, and he might be one of the oldest (if not the oldest) driver to join the team.
