Ex-Formula 1 race winner Mark Webber contends that Nyck de Vries’ struggles this year have emanated from the series being tougher on rookies nowadays.
Following an impressive deputy performance at Monza last year, de Vries was signed by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko to partner Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri for 2023.
However, the Dutchman has endured a tough debut campaign in F1, being regularly outpaced by his team-mate and getting caught up in various incidents.
But after a torrid Azerbaijan weekend that resulted in Marko warning he was on a “yellow card”, de Vries has produced more assured displays across the last two rounds.
Webber, who won nine grands prix during his time in F1, says that de Vries has shown improvement lately and argues he should be given the time to prove his worth.
“Nyck has of course had a difficult start,” he acknowledged via Motorsport.com, “but he can be quite satisfied with the past two race weekends. I think he will get into it a bit better from now on.
“This is the elite of the elite, but I think Nyck is there can get through this. I’m confident he can.”
Amid mounting pressure on de Vries’ future at AlphaTauri, Webber also cites how it has become increasingly difficult for drivers in their maiden years to adapt to F1.
The Australian, who oversees the career of McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri, has highlighted the lack of testing time afforded to the next generation of drivers.
With only one pre-season test comprising three days of running allocated ahead of this year’s season opener, Webber adds the emerging crop is being forced to learn more throughout race weekends instead.
“It’s so difficult these days for new guys coming into Formula 1. In my view, it’s harder now in Formula 1 than ever before for rookies,” Webber, 46, added.
“There are almost no more testing opportunities, so that a lot of the learning process has to take place during the race weekends.
“For drivers who already have experience, that is of course a nice advantage. But for newcomers, Formula 1 in the first year or perhaps even for the first few years has become a tough class.”
AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost, set to depart from his role at the end of 2023, has been vocal about rookie drivers needing at least three seasons to get up to speed.
Tsunoda sustained an inconsistent and accident-ridden first two years, but the Japanese driver has strung together a strong run of form in 2023 to be heralded as a potential future option for Red Bull.
Although de Vries is still waiting for a first F1 point this season, Marko hailed his Monaco Grand Prix outing as “by far his best weekend for AlphaTauri”.
While the former Formula E champion took advantage of brake trouble and a penalty to beat his team-mate in the previous two races, de Vries was already much closer on pace to Tsunoda in Monte Carlo before out-qualifying him in Barcelona last time out.
