Helmut Marko Reflects on De Vries as Red Bull Misstep

Helmut Marko calls Nyck de Vries’ Red Bull signing his greatest mistake, admitting the Dutch driver failed to meet expectations.

Dr. Helmut Marko admits that signing Nyck de Vries was his “biggest mistake” as head of Red Bull’s Formula 1 driver program.

Other former Red Bull-promoted drivers—such as Scott Speed, Jaime Alguersuari, Daniil Kvyat, and others—also failed to fulfill their initial promise.

However, Marko claims that de Vries’ failed stint stands apart, given how the Dutchman impressed during his race for Williams in 2022, earning a full-time seat at AlphaTauri for 2023.

After ten Grands Prix, de Vries, now 29, was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.

“My biggest mistake? There’s no doubt about it, it’s Nyck de Vries,” Marko said.

“He had a very strong debut with Williams at Monza. But once he joined AlphaTauri, he didn’t progress.”

“He had an incredible record. He was a Formula 2 champion and also won the Formula E championship. But with us, the stopwatch showed Nyck was the wrong choice.”

“And in his attempts to go faster, he just made mistakes.”

Last year, de Vries returned to Formula E and also competed in the Hypercar class with Toyota in the WEC.