Red Bull set to steal Hamilton’s understudy with announcement close

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Red Bull are set to announce Nyck De Vries as their new driver to partner Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri for 2023 at the Japanese Grand Prix, according to reports. The Dutchman has been subject of a tug-of-war between three teams but it appears Red Bull have won the race to sign him and deal a hammer blow to Mercedes in the process.

De Vries impressed on his F1 debut with Williams at the Italian Grand Prix after replacing Alex Albon, who underwent surgery for appendicitis. Having driven for Aston Martin in FP1, he was drafted in at the last minute to deputise for Williams for FP3, qualifying and the race in Italy.

Despite having little practice in the 2022 cars other than his simulation work, De Vries managed to finish in ninth position, securing two points and beating his team-mate Nicholas Latifi and triggered a chase between several teams including Williams and Alpine.

Talks have been ongoing for several weeks after AlphaTauri registered their interest in securing De Vries’ services for next season. The Italian-based team had initially targeted IndyCar driver Colton Herta but the American was denied a superlicence by the FIA.

That forced Red Bull to explore the opportunity to steal De Vries away from Mercedes, where he is currently employed as a backup to Hamilton. And he was spotted holding talks with special advisor Helmut Marko in Austria following his impressive display in Monza, fuelling speculation the 2019 Formula 2 champion would turn his back on Mercedes.

Racing365 now report that an announcement for De Vries to join AlphaTauri is imminent at Suzuka in a week’s time to celebrate the home race of their engine supplier Honda.

The move means will give Pierre Gasly the green light to seal his move to Alpine and end his long-running association with Red Bull as a contracted driver, filling up the seat left vacant by both Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri. He will partner Esteban Ocon in all-French lineup on what is expected to be a lucrative multi-year contract.

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De Vries confirmed in September he had held discussions with Red Bull supremo Marko about driving for AlphaTauri but admitted that a move to Williams would have seemed like the obvious step to make after making his debut with them.

“I don’t quite know if I’m in such a luxury situation that I can choose,” he said, as reported by Motorsport.com. “Largely, that is beyond my control. I have been in talks with Williams for a long time and I was also able to make my debut there last weekend.

“That would be a logical step. Alpine I have been in contact with since July, and I will test for them in Budapest next week. I will fly there on Monday. And as the media had noticed yesterday, I went to Austria to meet Helmut Marko. Those are the facts.”

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