Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel has expressed delight at seeing Daniel Ricciardo return to F1 but feels Nyck de Vries’ exit was “very harsh” and “brutal”.
Ricciardo is back in a full-time race seat for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix after Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko opted to axe De Vries just 10 grands prix into his rookie season.
Vettel is fully aware of how Red Bull operates after spending seven-and-a-half years with ‘the family’ given he started with Toro Rosso before moving on to the senior team where he won his four championships from 2010-2013.
The 36-year-old is hopeful F2 and Formula E De Vries does not end up scarred by the experience, and he is able to prove his talent elsewhere.
Vettel met and spoke with Ricciardo at Silverstone last Tuesday when the 34-year-old Australian was putting himself back in the shop window with a run-out in this season’s RB19 and the 36-year-old German was shaking down the 1993 McLaren he drove at Goodwood.
Whilst declaring himself “very, very happy” for a man he likes and drove alongside at Red Bull in Ricciardo, on De Vries, he said: “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.”
After meeting the Dutchman last season, and describing him as “a really good person” and “a good driver”, Vettel added: “He won the F2 championship, he won international championships, so he’s well recognised.
“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.”
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