Toto Wolff hopes de Vries moves to Red Bull

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff believes Nyck de Vries “deserves” a Red Bull seat in the future

Nyck de Vries represented the Mercedes brand across two motorsport categories from 2019 to 2022. Even becoming the 2020-2021 Formula E champion.

But following his remarkable race at the Formula One Italian Grand Prix in 2022, the Dutch driver secured his first full-time driving role at the pinnacle of motorsport. It was announced that de Vries will leave Mercedes and join AlphaTauri for the 2023 season. His replacement, former Haas driver Mick Schumacher, was announced last month.

The former Formula E and Formula 2 champion has had a difficult journey into Formula One. But his former boss, Toto Wolff, still speaks very highly of the Dutch driver.

Wolff on his hopes for de Vries’s future

In 2023, Mercedes will continue to run the talented duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. While both are exceptional drivers, losing a talented driver such as de Vries will still be a blow for the team. Especially since he moves to the sister team of one of their main competitors (Red Bull), AlphaTauri.

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff recently spoke with Swiatwyscigow.pl and reflected on his team’s previous season. On the topic of de Vries, and whether he would take the driver back, Wolff said he had “thought about it.”

While Wolff would take de Vries back, he wishes the Dutch drivers move to AlphaTauri brings him the desired results. He said:

“I hope that he stays there, and I hope that he’s successful in AlphaTauri.”

Hopefully, having had a positive spell at AlphaTauri, Wolff continues:

“I hope he will be so good to make it into a Red Bull seat one day because he deserves that.”

Wolff even relishes the opportunity to “fight it out” with de Vries at Red Bull. He also commented that if that were to happen, Mercedes would “take it like sportsmen.”

The Mercedes team principal had come to terms with losing the talented Dutchman early on during the 2022 season. In an interview with Sky Sports F1 in July, Wolff conceded:

“I think if we are not able to provide him with an interesting Formula 1 project, in a way we need to let him go.”

Now that Mercedes has released de Vries, how will the Dutch driver fare at AlphaTauri in 2023? Will he be able to outperform fellow rookies Logan Sargeant and Oscar Piastri?

Feature Image Credit: @SkySportsF1 on Twitter