Sky Sports pundit David Croft believes Nyck de Vries deserved more time to prove himself after he was brutally replaced by Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri.
Ricciardo, 34, is back on the grid after AlphaTauri made the decision to axe De Vries after just 10 races of the Formula 1 season. De Vries failed to pick up a point during his time on the track in 2023 and he will continue on zero as Riccardo comes in to replace him.
However, Ricciardo may also be seen as a risk given his last season racing in F1, for McLaren, ended in disaster. The Aussie finished last season with just 37 points, with Oscar Piastri since taking his place.
And Croft doesn't think it's the right decision by AlphaTauri given how little time they gave De Vries to showcase his qualities. This is despite De Vries being one of two drivers to be pointless after 10 races.
Croft tweeted: "DANIEL RICCIARDO ON LOAN TO SCUDERIA ALPHATAURI FOR REMAINDER OF 2023 SEASON 1st race will be Hungary next week. Can’t help think that however nice it will be to have Daniel back on the grid, Nyck wasn’t given enough to time to show what he can do - 10 races!"
Meanwhile, Ted Kravitz pointed out a worrying update in Riccardo's driving when he took the Red Bull 19 for a spin around Silverstone in a Pirelli tyre test. Red Bull were impressed with the results and wasted little time before announcing his AlphaTauri move.
However, Sky Sports pit lane reporter Kravitz detailed out the potential flaw in the team's logic. "It's all well and good basing it on the Red Bull RB19, which is the class of the field, but he's not driving that car.
Did AlphaTauri make the right decision to replace Nyck de Vries? Share your thoughts in the comments below
"He's driving probably one of the slowest cars on the grid, if not the slowest, which is the AlphaTauri," he said on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast . " The AlphaTauri had some upgrades at Silverstone and they finished further down than they normally do with a non-upgraded car. This is not a great AlphaTauri, it's fair to say.
"Not to say that they shouldn't have replaced Nyck de Vries – clearly it wasn't working – but the surprise is why Daniel Ricciardo would want to go in to that car that is worse than the McLaren he left last year, probably.
"That quote from Ricciardo I thought was odd. He said 'I'm stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family'. He can't even bring himself to say AlphaTauri! He doesn't want to say I'm delighted to drive the AlphaTauri because it's not a quick car."
