Nyck De Vries to AlphaTauri, greenlighting Pierre Gasly's Alpine jump?

Colton Herta's Formula 1 dream is over for now after Red Bull gave up its push to secure a mandatory super license for the American star of Indycar racing.

"We're proceeding without Herta," Auto Bild quoted Dr Helmut Marko as confirming, amid reports the FIA refused to give the 22-year-old an exemption to F1's strict points-based license rules.

"It's a shame the FIA didn't recognise the value of an American driver in F1," the Austrian added, "especially with three F1 races in the booming American market."

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Exploring options

On the face of it, it's also bad news for Pierre Gasly - as Red Bull only intended to release the Frenchman from his 2023 duties at Alpha Tauri if Herta got the green light.

However, Marko may be leaving the exit door open for Gasly, who is keen to move on after a long formative F1 career under the Red Bull umbrella.

He admits "negotiations with Alpine are difficult", but in light of the Herta news, Marko also said Red Bull is still exploring "what possibilities there could be" for next year.

READ: Who is Nyck de Vries? Profiling the driver who's got the Formula 1 world talking

At the same time, Monza debutant and F1's rookie-of-the-moment Nyck de Vries confirmed rumours that he met with Marko in his Graz (Austria) office last Friday.

The implication is that if AlphaTauri can secure Dutchman de Vries, the Gasly-Alpine deal might still be on.

"We talked about schnitzel," de Vries, 27, joked to France's Auto Hebdo when asked about his meeting with Marko.

A Wiliams drive

De Vries is also still a contender to race full-time for Williams in 2023, and he is currently preparing to test a year-old Alpine in Hungary.

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