Antonio Felix Da Costa sympathises with Nyck de Vries after replacement rumours

Formula E world champion, Antonio Felix da Costa has sympathised with the Alpha Tauri driver, Nyck de Vries after rumours suggest the Dutchman will lose his seat mid-season.

De Vries’ future has been the talk of the paddock for some time as the Dutchman has struggled to get to grips with his Alpha Tauri machinery. 

The former Formula E world champion, de Vries, was parachuted into the Alpha Tauri seat for 2023 after a superb drive for Williams, for the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, when Alexander Albon was hospitalised for a medical emergency. 

However, after a poor start to his first season in F1, it has been speculated that de Vries is set to be replaced by Red Bull’s reserve driver, Daniel Ricciardo as early as the summer break, according to F1-insider.com.

In a tweet, Felix da Costa sympathised with his former Formula E competitor believing it must be hard to quickly become accustomed to the prestige of F1. Felix da Costa tweeted: 

“Haven’t publicly spoken about this. Can only imagine how hard it must be to quickly get used to an F1, perform with only a couple days testing. 

“Nyck is getting closer to Tsunoda every weekend, who, let’s not forget, had to have a couple of bad days himself to get to this level.”

Over the last 11 rounds of the 2023 campaign, bar Imola’s cancellation in May, De Vries’ best result is a 12th-place finish in Monaco. 

With a pointless score, at the current point in the season, the Faenza-based team currently sits at the bottom of the constructors table with two points to their name – seven points adrift of Alfa Romeo in ninth place. 

The team’s points have been scored by Yuki Tsunoda with a 10th place finish in both Australia and Azerbaijan respectively.

Following a string of poor performances, the rumours have gathered traction with the likes of Ralph Schumacher believing ‘the decision has been made.’

However, if de Vries is to be replaced, his replacement is still up in the air. 

Ricciardo is expected to get behind the wheel of the RB19 for the first time on Tuesday for a Pirelli tyre test. Christian Horner, in a report by Sky Sports, said the test will be an important one for Pirelli but will allow the team to see ‘where he’s at – both on pace and mentally.’

At the same time, they do have a number of Red Bull junior drivers waiting in the wing such as Dams’ Ayumu Iwasa who is currently third in the Formula 2 world drivers standings.

That’s all for the article; Antonio Felix Da Costa sympathises with Nyck de Vries after replacement rumours!

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.