Christian Horner disagreed with Helmut Marko's decision to sign Nyck de Vries for AlphaTauri this season, the Austrian has admitted.
And, judging the Dutch racer by his early-season form in his maiden Formula 1 season, Marko conceded that the Red Bull chief might have been correct about the call.
AlphaTauri wanted to keep an unchanged driver pairing for this season. However, Pierre Gasly made it clear he wanted a fresh start out from under the Red Bull umbrella and was allowed to sign for Alpine.
To replace him, the team wanted to bring in IndyCar racer Colton Herta – but were denied by the FIA who refused to grant him a superlicence. In the end, they brought in De Vries.
The Dutchman had a big reputation already having won the Formula 2 and Formula E titles. And he suddenly became hot property after an unexpected debut for Williams at Monza last year, where he scored points.
Marko met with De Vries in the weeks after that race and was clearly keen on signing the former Mercedes junior. Clearly, he got his way – but not everyone was on board with the signing.
Red Bull team principal Horner, Marko has now revealed, disagreed with him over the decision. Asked by the Inside Line podcast if the pair sometimes have such opposing views, he 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. [Horner] was not a fan of De Vries. I would say at the moment it looks like he's [Horner] right."
Horner is not the only one who preferred an alternative option. AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has previously said that he wanted to sign Mick Schumacher – only for that move to be blocked by the Red Bull bosses who did think De Vries was the better option.
Marko went on to explain why the German was dismissed as an option. He added: "Franz Tost wanted Mick Schumacher, but he was in the Ferrari academy, through all his career, and he was already in F1.
"And basically, AlphaTauri is a junior team. De Vries' difference to Schumacher is that he had just one race, a very successful race at Monza, so he could fit in our philosophy in the junior team."
