Helmut Marko has dubbed his decision to give Nyck de Vries a seat in the AlphaTauri car the “biggest mistake” of his career.
The Dutch driver was hired ahead of the 2023 Formula One season, replacing Pierre Gasly, who would go on to join Alpine.
De Vries struggled for form throughout his stint with the Red Bull-owned outfit and failed to finish higher than 12th in the 10 races he had before being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.
Safe to say it wasn’t a success, with Marko opening up about the failed move to Italian outlet Autosprint. He said: “My biggest mistake? That was undoubtedly Nyck de Vries.
“He did very well on his debut for Williams in Monza. He also had an incredible CV. He was Formula 2 champion and Formula E champion.
“But for us the stopwatch said that Nyck de Vries was the wrong choice.”
De Vries has since carved out a respectable career in Formula E and has also featured for Toyota in the World Endurance Championship.
But, had things worked out differently for the Dutchman, he might’ve ended up at Mercedes instead, given head honcho Toto Wolff was said to have been a big fan.
De Vries had stepped in for Alex Albon at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix after the Williams racer was taken ill beforehand.
He ended up finishing ninth overall, with Wolff stating afterwards: “He’s just a good young man. He’s not only fast, and has shown that in the junior categories, but he’s also intelligent and a good team player.
“And that’s why he deserved it today. I don’t think that anyone else could have possibly done a better job in what he did.
“You’re in an Aston Martin, you’re driving around with the rake. And then you’re being drafted at the last minute in a different car. You’re beating your teammate by quite a margin.”
On his future prospects, Wolff added: “We haven’t got any management contract with him, nor have we got any influence on his career, nor are we taking any cut of his future earnings. We just know him very well.
“And we rate him, and I think that Nyck deserves to have a place in F1.”
That points-scoring finish on debut at the Italian Grand Prix provided De Vries with his first and last top-10 finish, such was his shortcomings behind the wheel at AlphaTauri.