Soon after the news broke that Nyck de Vries had been fired from his seat at AlphaTauri, rumours surfaced stating that Nyck had allegedly made a few disparaging comments aimed at Red Bull regarding the highly controversial 2021 season and Max Verstappen’s maiden championship win. The truth has now been revealed.
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I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World:
Did Nyck de Vries Really Say Red Bull Stole Hamilton’s 2021 Championship?
A few Italian media outlets had earlier claimed that Nyck had suggested that Red Bull had stolen the 2021 Drivers’ Championship from Lewis Hamilton
This caused quite the furore on social media
However, Nyck had stayed completely silent on social media or on any official channels
His manager Guillaume Le Goff has now revealed the truth behind these claims
“Nyck has not spoken to anyone since the news about his AlphaTauri seat”
“The news is fake and defamatory”
Le Goff then confirmed that Nyck will be making an official statement soon
“In the course of the week there will be an official statement from Nyck”
“Until then, we still have a few things to arrange”
Nyck did make a small post on social media soon after where he chose to be positive despite being hurt
“A short note from me… After recent events, I decided to take some time for myself away from social media, which I will continue to do”
“I would like to thank Red Bull and Scuderia AlphaTauri for the opportunity to live my dream”
“Of course it hurts that the F1 chance I dreamed of for so long ended prematurely”
“But life is not a destination, it’s a journey, and sometimes you have to take the hard road to get where you want to be”
He summed up his statement by thanking his fans
“I am grateful for our privileged lives, proud of our journey and my family”
“This is just another experience, we move on and look forward to the next chapter”
“Thank you to everyone for your kind and encouraging messages in the past week. It’s been heart-warming to feel your support”
While some felt that Nyck getting fired was justified, there have been many who have spoken out sympathetically
One of them is retired F1 world champion and former graduate of the Red Bull program, Sebastian Vettel as quoted by Speedcafe
“It’s obviously a shame for Nyck, the way it comes to an end”
“He was given a great chance. Maybe things didn’t happen for him the way he expected, or people expected”
“But it’s also a bit harsh when it comes to a very sudden stop like that. It’s brutal”
Vettel signed off by hoping that this situation doesn’t damage Nyck’s career going forward
“I hope this doesn’t dent his career. People tend to see that, and that’s not right”
“Maybe those 10 races didn’t go according to how good they could have been”
“We don’t know why, first of all, from the outside, and second, he is still a very good driver”
“So I have to also sympathise with the fact it’s very harsh for him, and I hope that people don’t see that dent”
Was the timing and the way Red Bull handled the firing of Nyck de Vries justified?