Nyck de Vries revealed he visited Maranello to speak with then team principal Stefano Domenicali as he eyed a move into F1.
Now known for his failed time at AlphaTuari, it seems De Vries’ F1 career could have been a lot different after he revealed discussions with key figures in the paddock.
Nyck de Vries reveals Red Bull and Ferrari F1 talks
With a karting European Championship on his resume, De Vries was on the radar of several F1 teams including both Ferrari and Red Bull.
Eventually singing with McLaren, De Vries has now said he met with both Helmut Marko and Stefano Domenicali to discuss joining the academies of either Red bull or Ferrari.
“So in 2009, I was still in juniors. We won the European Championship and all the WSKs. And then, yeah, basically that winter we signed with McLaren. And in 2010, I was already part of the young driver,” De Vries told the Cool Room Podcast.
“We didn’t have a formal offer from Red Bull at the time, but I did meet Dr. Marko in Monza to speak about it.
“But yeah, I definitely went to Maranello. I met Stefano Domenicali, who is obviously now boss of the FOM.
“And we had several conversations with other people, but we just felt that the approach McLaren had towards their young driver program was something we felt comfortable with. Hence we decided to take that direction.”
De Vries was made to wait for his F1 debut, first appearing as a substitute for Alex Albon at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix after the Williams driver was struck down with appendicitis.
An impressive P9 earned him a seat at AlphaTauri but he lasted just 10 races before being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.
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The hiring of De Vries was labelled as the biggest mistake of Helmut Marko’s career by the Austrian and the now 29-year-old driver said he struggled to cope with criticism from both inside and outside of the team.
“Of course you have the media and therefore the external pressure, but you also have the internal pressure,” he said. “Every team goes there differently. So you feel double pressure.
“Wherever you go, it always feels like they’re watching you. I wouldn’t say it feels like they’re attacking you, but you do feel that 24/7 about writing and talking about you.
“You move around in the paddock, in that ecosystem, and everyone knows about it, and you can’t run away from it. Even if you wanted to, there is no way to escape.
“I just tried to ignore it and not do much. I stopped reading any news, but you still know a little bit that it is there.”
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