by Alex Johnston
In the words of Olivia Newton John, “let’s get political”. Oh…physical, got you. I’m still going to get political. Alex Albon, Nyck De Vries, Pierre Gasly, Danill Kvyat…Daniel Ricciardo. All victims of the ruthless Red Bull driver merry go round.
On the surface, it’s admirable - a team insistent on promoting from within its own ranks and helping those drivers to the top, see: Max Verstappen, three time World Drivers Champion, 61 times a race winner, 109 podiums and 40 pole positions in a career so far spanning almost 10 years - and he’s still just turning 27 years old. Just incredible.
Beneath that, an endless merry go round that Red Bull have used to promote and demote at their own, whim and seldom give drivers a real chance to show just how good they are.
Take Daniil Kvyat; in 2015 the Russian driver outscored Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the championship but after ‘The Torpedo’ was born in 2016 in China and followed up with a sequel in Sochi, Kvyat was turfed out and demoted to the then Toro Rosso team next to Carlos Sainz, with Verstappen promoted - the only case in which this kind of move really worked out.
Here’s some examples of it not working out in Red Bull’s eyes:
Pierre Gasly: Promoted after the departure of Daniel Ricciardo after just over a year in F1, 2016 GP2 champion Gasly was unceremoniously demoted half way through 2019, after points finishes deemed too low to help the team. Gasly would prove his worth, winning at Monza a year later, adding to a stunning Brazil podium in 2019.
Alex Albon: Replacing Gasly, was Albon who, after just 12 races in F1, landed himself a dream drive. The Thai driver was impressive, finishing in the top six in all but one of the last nine races, when he was cruelly robbed of a podium in Brazil by Lewis Hamilton.
Albon’s confidence appeared to crumble after that, and after 2020 he was dropped entirely out of F1, partnering one Liam Lawson in the DTM series while serving as reserve for Red Bull and Alpha Tauri.
Nyck De Vries: Impressed enough on his debut substitute appearance with Williams for Helmut Marko to chase his signature to replace Pierre Gasly who jumped ship to Alpine, De Vries didn’t have a good run at all in the Red Bull family, despite predictions of an all-Dutch top Red Bull team in the future.
He failed to finish a race higher than 12th and was dumped after 10 races in favour of Daniel Ricciardo. In this case; Red Bull’s actions were probably justified.
Ricciardo becomes the latest to be taken out of a seat by the system, despite an upturn in form and a stunning comeback from an injury sustained last season to prove perhaps once again that he “never left”. Despite this Herr Marko has ended the popular Aussie’s F1 career in favour of Liam Lawson - another already being touted for the top team.
Here’s hoping Liam is the success he seems capable of being instead of being another victim of Mr. Marko’s ruthless hand.
📸 Lawson and the driver he may succeed in 2025?
📸 Image credits: Sky Sports, Formula Motorsport Limited, Red Bull Content Pool.
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