Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes that ousted AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries could have become a proper candidate for a seat at Red Bull had he been given more time to prove his worth.
De Vries, who was promoted to a seat with AlphaTauri following his remarkable F1 debut with Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, was axed by Red Bull after just ten races and replaced by F1 returnee Daniel Ricciardo.
Although the 28-year-old Dutchman consistently underperformed relative to his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, many believe he should have been given more time to prove his talent.
As a Mercedes reserve and development driver in 2022, de Vries embedded with the Brackley squad all season long while he also enjoyed FP1 outings with Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren and Williams.
Had he completed a full season with AlphaTauri and embarked on a second campaign with the Faenza-based outfit, he would have perhaps been a potential suitor for Sergio Perez's seat at Red Bull Racing according to Wolff.
"Maybe he needed more time," the Mercedes team boss Sky F1. "If he had been given the season, who knows?
"Maybe he would have been a really good candidate for the Red Bull seat, too?
"They wanted, I think, to do some benchmarking with Ricciardo. To see if Daniel might be able to take [Perez’s] seat.
"Once you’ve made that decision, then of course [De Vries will] fall through the cracks."
Wolff is a self-proclaimed fan of the ousted Dutchman, whom he continues to advise on an informal basis.
"I’m a fan of because he’s incredibly intelligent for vehicle development and has always contributed a lot."
Last month, Mercedes F1 engineering director Andrew Shovlin said that he would welcome back de Vries in a reserve role with the team.
"I think Nyck will be looking for more than just to become a simulator driver so he'll want to be doing racing," commented Shovlin in Hungary.
"I've only spoken to him by text, and he said he'll let me know how his plans are coming on.
"He was certainly very useful for us in that role and we would be welcome to get him back in that role. But I suspect his focus will be on finding race seats."
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