Helmut Marko's admission that Christian Horner was right to have doubts about Nyck de Vries suggests that the Dutch driver is on borrowed time.

Following an unconvincing start to the season, the long break resulting from the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix led to a media frenzy over the youngster's future, with many suggesting that he was on the verge of being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.

Red Bull's Lord High Executioner, Helmut Marko hardly helped matters when he hinted at a Barcelona deadline by which time de Vries had to make a significant improvement.

The deadline came and went, yet even with no significant improvement speculation over de Vries' future appeared to die down.

While Ricciardo has since said that he is willing to return to AlphaTauri, the Australian is understood to not want to make the move until next season.

Meanwhile, Marko has admitted that team boss Horner was never convinced by the Dutch driver.

Speaking on the Inside Line podcast, when asked if he and Horner ever disagree, Marko replied: "Not often, but sometimes we do.

"The last one, I would say de Vries," he added.

"Basically it's AlphaTauri, but we're a big family and we get opinions," he explained. "He (Horner) was not a fan of de Vries... I would say at the moment it looks like he was right."

All of which is sure to give the youngster a significant boost to his already damaged confidence.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 30/06/2023 2:20

"@Defiant....RB for all their detractors are an easy target here. I do think that there are many points within the set up that are not too clearly understood. Drivers entering the RB scheme would know that if they slip up and fall behind expectations then they stand a very good chance of being dropped. Yes, from the outside it sometimes appears cruel but that's the way they operate. With the huge sums involved in bringing new talent up to speed it's the best way to keep new drivers evolving. I have no problem with that approach at all. IMO DV should never have got that drive in the first instance, but there you go. No room for sentinent, you're either in or you're out. Simple as that."

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2. Posted by Defiant, 29/06/2023 18:33

"And the curse of RB & AT is looking to strike again. It used to be THE program for drivers, the one everyone wanted to be a part of (for good reason too) yet they repeatedly drop the axe on careers, ruining some forever. I'm kind of shocked that any young driver would choose them as a path with the history they have. I thought that they had maybe built up a little loyalty after the Albon happenings, but nope, clearly not."

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3. Posted by Burton, 28/06/2023 17:43

"He's a rookie regardless of experience in other categories, there's no testing and it's the second worst car on the grid...if they think Lawson or even Daniel would hit the ground running I have a bridge they might be interested in."

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Horner was right about de Vries, says Marko

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