Yuki Tsunoda believes Red Bull should at least have waited until the summer break before deciding to fire Nyck de Vries.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed a decision was made to release the Dutch driver from his AlphaTauri contract 11 laps into a test conducted by replacement Daniel Ricciardo two days after the British Grand Prix.
Tsunoda claims that given the rumours, when he heard the news he was “not really surprised” but, on the other hand, given the timing, it did come as “a big surprise”.
Horner said that after De Vries’ performances across his 10-race rookie campaign, there was little point in waiting until the summer break that follows the next two races in Hungary this weekend, and next weekend’s race in Belgium.
“I know what Red Bull are saying but I think he deserved until at least the summer break,” said Tsunoda. ‘He was doing a pretty good job.
“At the last race (the British GP), I could tell from his lap time and how he behaved with the team, that he was gradually building up his confidence.”
Tsunoda naturally contacted De Vries after the news emerged. He added: “I told him how I felt, my appreciation to him, and he sent me back a really nice message.
“Obviously, we’re friends, he’s really nice guy, a respectful person. I respect a lot of things from him.”
In light of De Vries’ past motor-racing experience in winning the F2 and Formula E titles, and being part of the Mercedes programme prior to joining the Red Bull family, Tsunoda insists he learned from the 28-year-old despite their short time together as team-mates.
The Japanese, in particular, highlighted De Vries’ feedback, which he said was “really specific”.
“I’ve never seen a driver be that specific. describing each detail, and which was easy to understand. I can tell why he had such successful results in the past.”
Believing he can apply De Vries’ methods, he added: “That’s something that’s probably been a bit of limitation for me, and that I have to go a step forward.
“Nyck is a really good example, a good reference on what I have to do.”
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