Nyck de Vries is currently in a difficult situation at the AlphaTauri team. The driver has been given an ultimatum, a proverbial yellow card, as Helmut Marko himself calls it. De Vries has three more races to prove himself, otherwise the chances are very high that he will have to pack his bags, and his first Formula 1 season can be labeled as a complete disaster. It would not be the first time in the history of the premier class or AlphaTauri that drivers have to leave prematurely.
De Vries' official debut could be considered a success. As a substitute for Alexander Albon, who was hospitalized with appendicitis, he immediately scored two points for the Williams team. At the same time, he outperformed his temporary teammate Nicholas Latifi. It is precisely this performance that earned him a seat at the AlphaTauri team. However, for the man from Sneek, things are not going according to plan at the Italian outfit.
The fact that De Vries has not scored any points yet is not a major problem. On many weekends, the AlphaTauri car is unable to finish in the points anyway. Yuki Tsunoda has also only scored 'just' two points with his AT03, but he has been faster in qualifying four out of five times. In the races, he comfortably outperforms the Dutchman as well, as De Vries has not finished ahead of his teammate even once. The crashes in Azerbaijan and the contact with Lando Norris in Miami are pushing things towards the edge. One more setback, and it could be over for De Vries.
Drivers who choose a career with Red Bull Racing or its sister team know that they have to deliver on their performance from the very first minute. Marko wants to see results, and if these results don't materialize, drivers will be replaced without hesitation. This has happened before at Red Bull and also at AlphaTauri, back when the team was still known as Toro Rosso. The first driver who had to pack his bags was Scott Speed in 2007. Not only were his performances not up to par, but Speed also had a serious dispute with team boss Franz Tost. It's said to have been more than a verbal altercation, so his dismissal didn't come as a surprise.
Speed was replaced by a very young Sebastian Vettel. The German had already made a name for himself in his debut for BMW, and a year later, he won his first race with the Toro Rosso team. His promotion to Red Bull was well-deserved given his results, and the Austrian team achieved fantastic results with the driver from Heppenheim. In 2008, his teammate was far less successful. Sébastien Bourdais completed a full season that year, but he was released prematurely in 2009. Tost brought Jaime Alguersuari onto the team because the collaboration with Bourdais didn't go as hoped.
In recent history, it was Red Bull who actually let go of drivers. These drivers didn't permanently leave the Formula 1 grid but could return to the sister team. Daniil Kvyat was let go in 2016. The Russian had outperformed Daniel Ricciardo the previous year, but his 2016 season didn't start convincingly. The then Red Bull driver was involved in multiple incidents, with one particular favorite target: Vettel. This earned him the nickname 'the Torpedo', which the former Formula 1 driver was not particularly proud of. Before the Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth race of the season, a certain Max Verstappen took his place.
On May 15th, 2016, a Dutchman suddenly stood on the highest podium in Formula 1.
That turned out to be a brilliant move by Red Bull management. Verstappen stepped in, qualified fourth and, eventually, after the crash of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, won the race. In the following seasons, Verstappen occasionally had an incident here and there, but Marko and Christian Horner maintained their faith in the Dutch driver. That faith was rewarded by the multiple race winner. Verstappen naturally brought Red Bull Racing two drivers' championships and a constructor's title, thereby officially ending Mercedes' dominance.
At Red Bull, after two initial years of adjustment, he consistently outperformed his teammates. Following Ricciardo's departure, Pierre Gasly was promoted, but the step came too early for the Frenchman. After a major crash during testing, Gasly's confidence took a hit, and it showed in the first half of the 2019 season. His performances were not enough to impress Marko and Horner. At the same time, the now single race winner was rumored to have had a major fallout with Adrian Newey. This didn't sit well with Marko, leading to Gasly eventually being replaced by Albon over the summer break.
The dismissals at Toro Rosso and Red Bull were relatively controversy-free. However, the same cannot be said for the dismissal of Nelson Piquet Jr. in 2009. The Renault team had seen enough after half a season in which the Brazilian failed to score any points, and they decided to let Piquet Jr. go. That's when the rumors of crashgate started to emerge. It was speculated that the driver had kept silent about his deliberate crash during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix as long as he still had a seat at Renault. Formula 1 re-investigated the incident, and more heads had to roll than the Renault team had initially anticipated.
It isn't just underperforming drivers that are being sacked in Formula 1. Alain Prost, a legendary driver of the pinnacle of motorsport and already a three-time world champion in 1991, had to leave Ferrari after insulting the team. During the 1991 season, the Frenchman couldn't compete for the championship, but he still managed to achieve five podium finishes that year. Prior to the final race of the season, the Grand Prix of Australia, the driver decided to add some fuel to the fire. Prost compared the Ferrari car to a truck. The Italian team deemed it unwise to continue working with the three-time world champion and decided to let go of the driver before the last race of the season.
Also, Jan Lammers' contract was once terminated prematurely, but for a very specific reason. The Dutchman was driving for the ATS team and had a decent start to the 1981 season, but after the fourth round, it was already over for Lammers. A Swede named Slim Borgudd wanted his seat, and he would bring a substantial amount of money to the table. The well-known pop band ABBA was financing the driver's career. Lammers had to go, and in the following years, he only sporadically appeared in Formula 1.
For De Vries, it will be crucial to show his worth in the upcoming triple-header. The Dutchman needs to keep his car away from the walls and gravel and maximize the package. It would also be beneficial for De Vries to outperform Tsunoda in qualifying, just like he did in Miami. Additionally, it would be wise for De Vries not to be negative towards the team and hope that another driver doesn't suddenly knock on the door, armed with a bag of money from ABBA to finance his seat.