Max Verstappen reveals the advice he gave Nyck de Vries to bag AlphaTauri seat

De Vries will drive for AlphaTauri next season

Max Verstappen has revealed he urged Nyck de Vries to contact Red Bull boss Helmut Marko before he was given the AlphaTauri seat.

AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s sister team, lost Pierre Gasly after he signed for Alpine but Marko drafted in De Vries who shone during a race for Williams this season. Two-time world title winner Verstappen has now lifted the lid of how he helped make the deal happen.

“Of course, I knew this was coming,” Verstappen said. “But of course this is incredible for him. He’s been pushing hard for it for a long time and to finally get that opportunity is amazing for him. But also, I think after Monza there was no real discussion anymore.

“Helmut [Marko] is the guy, when he likes something, he is daring enough to then put him in the car whereas maybe other teams are a bit more careful. It’s great news. We are good friends as well. We had dinner the day after Monza and I told him ‘just give him (Marko) a call, you never know what happens’.

“It was also the right time to call him as Helmut is still probably excited on a Monday from the race on a Sunday, so it worked out really well. And I’m very happy for him.”

And De Vries himself says he is focused upon having a successful career in Formula 1.

“I’m very grateful to get the opportunity and super-excited to be on the grid next year and it’s a competitive sport,” he said. “As long as I do my job on track, I’ll be able to continue to progress my career successfully forward and I think that’s all I’m worried [about] and focused on.”