Red Bull junior could replace Nyck de Vries sooner than expected on the F1 grid

Nyck De Vries was selected by Red Bull to replace Pierre Gasly, who is off to the Alpine F1 team, as Yuki Tsunoda's teammate at AlphaTauri this year.

Given that Franz Tost, the team principal of the AlphaTauri Formula One team, believes that Nyck de Vries "decides" his own fate by his performances, the driver may be replaced before the 2023 season is through.

Liam Lawson is currently seen as the most likely candidate to replace De Vries, and that change might be made during the season if Red Bull continues to be disappointed with De Vries. It is unknown how long De Vries has to turn his season around and secure his current spot in Formula One.

De Vries, though, has had more difficulty than people at Red Bull probably expected. He hasn't scored yet, and while that's mostly due to AlphaTauri's lack of competitiveness, Tsunoda has so far completely surpassed him.

F1 Grand Prix of Austria - Previews

Franz Tost stated that even if De Vries, who has experience and success in a wide range of racing categories, started his full rookie F1 season at the age of 28, he would still require time to adjust with third-year driver Tsunoda.

The pressure has already increased, and Dr.Marko even said, ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, that Christian Horner was correct to question whether De Vries was the best decision.

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Red Bull's Champion Max Verstappen reassure Nyck DeVries about his performance

F1 Grand Prix of Austria - Practice & Qualifying

De Vries has been under pressure lately following a challenging season debut. Along with fellow rookie Logan Sargeant, the Dutch driver is one of just two drivers without a point this year.

Prior to this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen provided some words of comfort to his under-pressure fellow Dutchman Nyck de Vries, telling him not to become "too stressed" about his current condition.

“You need to perform and do the best you can. It's not forever anyway. You can't force things as well, so it's about how you work together with your team, gain more experience as well," Max told De Vries.

Along with that, De Vries has also been involved in a number of incidents on track that affected his performance.

Verstappen, who was seated next to De Vries at Thursday's news conference in Austria, thinks De Vries only needs one success to get back on track. This has given rise to some speculation over his future with the Alpha Tauri.