© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Toto Wolff says Nyck de Vries was a casualty of Red Bull wanting to “do some benchmarking with Ricciardo to see if Daniel might be able to take Checo’s seat”.
Red Bull recently decided to remove Nyck de Vries from AlphaTari, and replace him with their reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes this was done because Red Bull is looking at the possibility of replacing Sergio Perez with Ricciardo.
“Maybe [De Vries] needed more time,” the Austrian said.
“If he had been given the season, who knows? Maybe he would have been a really good candidate for the Red Bull seat too.
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“They wanted, I think, to do some benchmarking with Ricciardo to see if Daniel might be able to take Checo’s seat.
“And once you’ve made that decision, then of course you’ll fall through the cracks.”
Toto, who met with De Vries in the days since his departure was announced, says he feels sorry for what happened to Mercedes’ former reserve driver.
“I’m a fan of his, because he’s incredibly intelligent for vehicle development and has always contributed a lot,” Wolff concluded.
