Nyck de Vries on the starting grid in Bahrain?
Since Thursday morning, McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo has been missing. Tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday evening, he is now forced to isolate.
Absent from pre-season testing in Bahrain since Thursday morning, Daniel Ricciardo has tested positive for Coronavirus. As a result, he is now required to quarantine just one week before the official start of the 2022 season.
In addition to the brake issues which are depriving McLaren of valuable track time in Bahrain, the team must now deal with the isolation of Daniel Ricciardo. Indeed, the Australian cannot leave until at least Thursday evening. If he wanted to race in the first Grand Prix of the season, he would have to jump into the car as early as Friday, which is an extremely physically challenging task.
But if this is inconvenient for McLaren, who would lose a regular driver for the opening round, Ricciardo’s absence could be a stroke of luck for Nyck de Vries. Because obviously, an absence implies a replacement.
So the question arises of who would be starting instead of the Australian. And according to Andreas Seidl, team principal of McLaren, two opportunities present themselves to him. An agreement with Mercedes, McLaren’s engine supplier, would allow the orange team to place Mercedes’ reserve drivers on the starting grid in Bahrain. Specifically, Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries.
The scales would lean more towards De Vries as Ricciardo’s replacement. Although he didn’t manage to enter Formula 1 this season, he still caught the attention of the paddock.
In the meantime, McLaren has a more pressing issue to address. And while Andreas Seidl is confident, Lando Norris, who has been on the track since Thursday morning, is still suffering from a brake failure on the MCL36.
