Breaking: Nyck de Vries out of Alpha Tauri

This dude supposedly knows the de Vries family. But I'll believe it only when we get proper motorsport press reporting it.

edit: Telegraaf.nl reporting it. Ricciardo to replace de Vries link

edit2: Chris Medland says multiple sources confirm

edit3: It's real! https://scuderia.alphatauri.com/en/scuderia-alphatauri-welcomes-back-daniel-ricciardo/

Translation please?

It's official.

Being so shit you get canned before your home race must feel awful.

Totally deserved though, still OOF factor 11
Is he out out? Maybe he'll be given the chance to do Zanvoort before it's official
- Yes he’s gone

Car has been bad but he's still not really shown much and it's not like he's a young rookie either. So kind of understandable.

Was never a fan but a shame he didn't get a chance to finish his rookie season.

His last line in the last season of DTS was all hubris.
- What was the line?

Well, unexpected, but not shocked. Some big questions come to mind immediately.

Do you think Nyck got a fair chance? He's underperformed, but wasn't given long
Will Ricciardo be able to get any results in that car? Has he gotten over the problems that led to his McLaren exit?
What could this mean for next year's RB/AT lineups?

Marko clearly didn't like him. I'm sure Mark Webber can empathise this situation.

Will Ric be any good is a massive question. I feel if he can't make the AT go fast, that's the end of his competitive F1 career.

Who knows about next year. Could imagine Perez going if his results in qualifying don't improve. His season would be utterly dreadful if he was in any car but the Red Bull.
- I think it was more that Marko hasn't liked his performance this season. It seems as though Marko was the one that pushed for de Vries when Horner and Tost had other preferences. Marko has been brutal toward him recently, but I think that's a change and a reaction to missed expectations.
  
  Supporting quote from https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/37926391/red-bull-boss-admits-horner-right-doubt-de-vries :
  
  Asked on The Inside Line podcast if he and Red Bull boss Horner often disagree about signings, Marko said: "Not often, but sometimes we do. The last one... I would say de Vries.
  
  "Basically it's AlphaTauri, but we're a big family and we get opinions. He [Horner] was not a fan of De Vries. I would say at the moment it looks like he was right."
  
  Here's the source claiming Tost was voting for Schumacher: https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/37926391/red-bull-boss-admits-horner-right-doubt-de-vries
- Marco didn't like him, but he also didn't want to go to Williams where he would have been much safer.
  
  But he chose shorter path to top car, and lost. Sad, but at least he had a choice.
  
  And RB can test two "new" drivers for the price of one. This will be break it or make it for Ric too. I think Ric or Check will be in RB+AT next year, but not both.
  
  We all new this since Ric got back to RB.

I really thought they would give him a whole season. Then again, Marko was taking shots at him left and right...

Marko's recent savagery leaves me not surprised.

Oof. Curious to see how long they'll let Perez underperform then...

I don't think he is in any danger of getting kicked mid season. Red Bull probably wants the full sweep and by replacing Perez mid season it's just going to be more difficult to be 1&2 in driver standings. There is an argument he won't be the driver next season but this one he is safe.
Can definitely see this as a comparison test for Perez’s seat. Now you can see whose better in the same machinery. Has some simulator work brought Dani back to old form, can he wrestle with the straddling alpha, or will yuki show he has what it takes?? Also yuki now has 1.5 seasons in this car against Daniel’s year in a McLaren and some simulator work on the Redbull. If true interested to see how it all plays out, this will either be the last nail in Daniel’s racing career’s coffin or the first stepping stone to his return
- Imagine Red Bull is Verstappen and Ricciardo again in 2024. It took them 6 years to figure out they fucked up by letting him go.
Danny could have a shot, may he be noticeably quicker than Yuki.
- I wouldn’t get my hopes up, after his stint at McLaren
Yeah I see this as a way to see if they can give Ric the spot next year. Kind of weird thoguh since the AT is pretty shitty this year. It's either that or they want to punish Ric even more for leaving in the first place and just destroy him.

That’s a bit radical imho

Par for the course for Red Bull
- On the other hand what other team would give a 28 year old rookie a chance at the moment?

Was he so bad? Yuki having only two points hints at a problem with the car/team, no?

Points hardly ever tell the full story.
That's how I feel. It's a shit car. Is Danny going to be able to do better? Alpha Tauri hasn't exactly been topping the rankings, and seems to have gotten worse of late. It feels like they're being a bit too cutthroat on with this decision.
Tbh I think they are testing if Ric would be a fit for RB
- Probably that and the fact that de Vries is clearly wasn't gonna make it into the main team. However, they knew that before signing the contract.
His start of the season was horrible, but I feel like his bad form was much less noticable the last couple of days.

That being said, they need someone at Alpha Tauri to keep Perez sharp, and it was clear that De Vries was not going to be that guy.

Hmm is Danny still laughing about getting out of McL?

I think with his millions he is smiling pretty hard still haha
- He'd have the millions when driving for the papayas anyway, and potentially now fighting Max
That's his secret. He's always smiling.

I don't know that they expected from him in the first place. I'm glad that Ricciardo is back though. It's now or never for him.

That’s a bit radical imho