Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says he and Christian Horner had a difference of opinion over Nyck de Vries’ move to sister outfit AlphaTauri, revealing Horner was not sold about signing him.
Marko was a key figure in pushing for De Vries’ move to AlphaTauri to be agreed after his impressive Formula 1 debut for Williams at Monza last year when he stood in for Alex Albon.
But De Vries has endured a difficult first full season where he has largely been outperformed by team-mate Yuki Tsuonda and failed to score a point in the opening eight races.
The Dutchman’s error whilst attempting to overtake Kevin Magnussen at the Canadian Grand Prix has only ramped up the pressure on De Vries, who has been given the hurry up by Red Bull’s senior bosses to improve his performances.
When asked on the Inside Line F1 podcast if there has ever been a disagreement over driver signings between him and Horner, Marko spoke bluntly about their differing views over De Vries’ arrival at AlphaTauri.
“Not often, but sometimes,” Marko said. “The last one where I would say, Nyck de Vries. And at the moment it looks like he [Horner] is right.
“It’s AlphaTauri [not Red Bull], but as we are a big family I would say we are at least getting opinions.
“And he was not so big a fan of Nyck de Vries.”
Marko also confirmed that outgoing AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost wanted to sign Mick Schumacher following the German’s departure from Haas, only to back out of a deal due to Schumacher’s Ferrari ties being seen as a potential obstacle.
During discussions over driver choices, Marko said it was decided that De Vries was a better fit “in our philosophy that it is a junior team”.
