Colton Herta’s F1 dreams have come to an end for the time being after Red Bull abandoned efforts to secure a mandatory F1 superlicense.
Red Bull F1 motorsport adviser Helmut Marko, amid reports that the FIA has refused to grant 22-year-old Colton Herta an exemption from strict points-based F1 superlicence rules, has said that he “was no longer proceeding with Colton Herter”.
“It’s a shame the FIA doesn’t recognize the value of American drivers in F1.”
“Especially considering there are three F1 races in the growing US market.”
At first glance, the abandonment of Colton Herta by Red Bull is bad news for Pierre Gasly, who wants to join the Alpine F1 team.
Red Bull intended to release Pierre Gasly from his contract with Alpha Tauri for 2023 only if Colton Herta’s appointment materialized.
But Helmut Marko may be leaving the transfer door open for Pierre Gasly, who is eager to move on after shaping a long F1 career with the Red Bull family.
Helmut Marko admitted “negotiations with Alpine are difficult”, but said Red Bull was still exploring “what the possibilities are” for next year.
Meanwhile Nick de Vries, who made an impressive F1 debut for Williams at Monza as a replacement for Alexander Albon, has confirmed rumors he met Helmut Marko at his office in Graz (Austria) last Friday. . .
This means that if AlphaTauri can secure Nick de Vries, Pierre Gasly’s move to Alpine could still happen.
“We talked about schnitzel,” Nick de Vries jokingly told Auto Hebdo when asked about meeting Helmut Marko.
Nick de Vries is also a strong candidate to race full-time for Williams in 2023 as he prepares to test a year-old Alpine F1 machine in Hungary.
“They are all true,” Nick de Vries confirmed to Dutch broadcaster RTL4.
“We have been negotiating with Alpine since July and it has already been reported that I have discussed the prospects of cooperation with Dr Marko in Austria.”
“Obviously I’ve been talking with Williams for a long time and I was able to make my debut there, so it would be a logical step. But I literally don’t think I’m in a situation where I can pick a team.
“It’s out of my control and not everything in this world revolves around performance, but luckily we have some momentum now and there’s room on the grid.”
“So there is an opportunity, but there are no guarantees.”
Meanwhile the management of Mick Schumacher, who would have lost his Haas F1 team seat and his contract with the Ferrari Driver Academy at the same time, has denied reports that he will take part in the Alpine F1 team’s private test. .
Category: F1 / red bull / Colton Herta / Nick de Vries
Leave a Reply