Nyck De Vries statement issued after ‘fake’ Lewis Hamilton ‘robbed’ comments published
AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries at the Austrian Grand Prix. Spielberg, June 2023.
Nyck de Vries’ manager has denied the Dutch driver made a series of comments regarding the nature of Red Bull’s title win in 2021, after being fired from Red Bull.
Following on from his abrupt axing from Red Bull’s AlphaTauri team, comments purportedly coming from Nyck de Vries were published in the media.
The jilted driver, who has been replaced by Daniel Ricciardo for the remainder of the season, was quoted as allegedly revealing his disappointment at the switch, but that he “wasn’t surprised” as his former employers had “already stolen Lewis Hamilton’s eighth title” – comments which are categorically denied as being fictitious, according to his management.
Nyck de Vries’ management: This news is fake and defamatory
According to the original report, De Vries had also already been promised the second seat at Red Bull, in place of Sergio Perez, for 2025 – with the Dutch driver allegedly sharing both the comments on Red Bull and his apparent future.
But De Vries has not spoken to any media outlet in the wake of his firing, with his management confirming to F1-Insider that the report is inaccurate.
“Nyck has spoken to absolutely no one since the news of Red Bull, not even to any Italian media. The news is fake and a defamation,” manager Guillaume Le Goff said.
“Obviously someone wanted to make a name for himself – in any case, we reserve the right to take further legal action.”
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De Vries will resurface before the end of this week, to issue a statement in response to his firing: “There will be an official statement from Nyck later this week but, until then, we still have to sort out a few things.”
While De Vries’ former Red Bull boss Helmut Marko has cast doubt on the drivers’ ability to find another F1 race seat, De Vries was spotted having coffee with Mercedes’ boss Toto Wolff the day after his firing – De Vries raced for the Mercedes factory team en route to the Formula E title three years ago.
Away from work, De Vries also went swimming with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris off the coast of Cap Ferrat near Monte Carlo.
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