Italian journalist believes 28-year-old F1 driver is fighting for his future on the grid

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Nyck de Vries could already be fighting for his F1 future just five races after joining the grid on a full-time basis.

That’s according to journalist Roberto Chichero was speaking on the F1 Nation podcast.

It’s not been an easy start to life in Formula 1 for the Dutch driver.

There was plenty of excitement around De Vries when it was announced he would be on the grid this season.

The former Formula E and F2 champion had been on the fringes of the sport for some time.

De Vries was signed to McLaren’s Young Driver Programme during his karting days before leaving in 2019.

He was then associated with the Mercedes team and drove for them in the Formula E series for three seasons.

He performed his first F1 test for the team in 2020, before being an opportunity with Williams, Mercedes and Alpine last season.

He went on loan to Williams to replace Alex Albon in Italy later in the season after the Thai driver suffered appendicitis.

De Vries raced brilliantly, outqualifying teammate Nicolas Latifi, scoring two points and winning Driver of the Day.

AlphaTauri offered him a full-time race seat this season, but now De Vries’s F1 future is already in doubt.

He’s not lived up to expectations after that amazing outing at Monza.

De Vries F1 future in doubt

Asked about whether rumours that De Vries could be out of the team by the summer break are true, Chinchero said: “It’s not been a very good start from Alpha Tauri.

“They are very confident in their new floor, it’s the most important part in this new generation [of cars].

“I think Imola will be a good point for them, it’s a good place to test new parts.

“About Nick de Vries, I just wrote a story about last week. This guy was chosen because of one race [last season], and is now at risk of being fired after five races.

“It’s very difficult to understand the politics of Helmut Marko [Red Bull advisor] honestly.

“If you think there are on the grid drivers like [Pierre] Gasly, [Carlos] Sainz that were Red Bull drivers and in the end, they went to the market because they had no drivers available.

“I think it’s very difficult now, not only at Red Bull but in general for the rookie drivers because you have no time for testing.”

Red Bull chief Marko suggested that De Vries had received a ‘yellow card’ after his performance in Miami last weekend.

He hit McLaren driver Lando Norris going into the opening corner and finished the race in 18^th place.

It would be incredibly harsh to question De Vries’s future in F1 at this stage of his career.

However, Red Bull are notoriously ruthless when it comes to driver changes, just ask Daniil Kvyat, Alex Albon or Pierre Gasly.

Yuki Tsunoda has been on the cusp of scoring points all season, and the Dutchman has rarely been able to match his pace.

Not only that, but fellow rookie Oscar Piastri has already scored points in a McLaren that has also proved to have very little pace this season.

He’ll now have to wait until Barcelona to prove he’s worth his place in Formula 1.