How Williams substitute Nyck de Vries experienced his Formula 1 debut in Monza and what this P9 race effort could mean for his sporting future
“The past 24 hours were simply fantastic,” says Nyck de Vries. This statement is not surprising: after a Friday drive for Aston Martin in Monza, the 2020/2021 Formula E World Champion also came to race for Williams at short notice. And de Vries did remarkably well: coming from eighth on the grid, he saw the finish line in ninth and scored points on his debut in Formula 1.
“Of course I know that we had a little help from the grid penalties and so on. But nobody can take these points away from us,” says de Vries after his first Grand Prix.
But it is not only the two championship points with which de Vries has made an impression. Williams team boss Jost Capito, for example, praised his driver on Sky for his “fantastic” performance since Saturday.
De Vries was “not only absolutely fast” but also managed to do “everything absolutely flawlessly”, Capito stressed. “He did it so professionally, as if he had never done anything else. You didn’t sense any nervousness in him, although I think he was nervous on the inside. “
Sleepless the night before Formula One debut
De Vries confirmed the latter when asked: he had spent the night from Saturday to Sunday very restless. “I slept badly from tension and nervousness. I didn’t even want to check my sleep data later because I had been lying awake all night. But maybe that helped me. I couldn’t think, I just had to do it because everything happened so fast.”
And now de Vries is receiving praise from all sides. The Formula 1 fans voted him “Driver of the Day” at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza even during the race, and former champion Lewis Hamilton was one of the first to congratulate him after the race.
“I’m incredibly happy for Nyck and really proud of him. He’s a good guy, a good person,” Hamilton said. “For Nyck to step in [for Alexander Albon] and finish in the top 10, that’s mega for his first race!”
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also praises de Vries
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff can only agree with this verdict. De Vries had sold himself “unbelievably” in Monza. “He got into the car in the third free practice session, qualified ahead of his team-mate and casually drove into the points. Without any training – really good,” Wolff told Sky.
From his point of view, this was a first-class bid for 2023. Wolff: “If one of those who still have a free seat doesn’t pick him up, I don’t understand the world any more. What more does he have to do than put in the performance he did today?”
But de Vries himself doesn’t want to think that far yet: “We live in a fast-moving world and it’s not all about success. But nobody can take that away from me, and it doesn’t matter whether I’m here in the future or not. I can look back with pride on my debut in Formula 1. It was fun. “
Taking advantage of opportunities when they arise
Anything else is “out of my hands”, says de Vries. He can only do his best, he says. “Because every time you are in the car, you are expected to do a good job. And every time you get the opportunity to drive a Formula One car, it’s like a job application and a job interview. “
“You just have to take those opportunities, but in a meaningful way,” explains de Vries. “Because it’s always about the balance of making too much or too little of it. But I’m just grateful that everything turned out well and played into our cards. “
Not an easy start to the race for de Vries
By his own account, de Vries started the Grand Prix “not so well”, “but well enough to hold my position”. He therefore returned from the first round in eighth position. “The key was to get into a rhythm right at the start and not lose any places. Otherwise your tyres get dirty and you fall behind.”
That’s exactly what didn’t happen: De Vries drove in the top 10 from the start and held his own in the race. “I’m happy with our strategy and how we executed it. The pace was really good, the car was great,” he says.
The 27-year-old took minor hurdles in his stride. For example, the start with a steering wheel that was tuned to his Williams colleague Nicholas Latifi – with corresponding consequences. De Vries: “The clutch lever was his, and his hands are twice as big as mine!”
A controller for adjusting the brake balance was also not ideally located for de Vries: “I had caught it in qualifying and thus adjusted the brake balance backwards. With that, I basically overloaded the gearbox when I hit the brakes before turn 4.” It was one of a handful of mistakes by de Vries in a car that was unfamiliar to him.
Sports commissioners pass lenient sentence
Another one occurred in the race behind the safety car, in the immediate closing stages: De Vries braked heavily between turns 2 and 3 when Guanyu Zhou in the Alfa Romeo followed him closely. The stewards therefore launched an investigation, accusing de Vries of driving “erratically” and thus breaking the rules.
The sports commissioners, however, left it at a warning. Reason: De Vries had been irritated by an overlay on his display, had been in radio contact with the team and had not been informed about the overlay. He had braked in order not to fall below the prescribed minimum time under yellow.
His spontaneous appearance at Williams had a mitigating effect: “The stewards see that he replaced the regular driver at short notice and that he drove the car for the first time in the third practice session this weekend. That’s why we’re issuing a warning instead of a higher penalty. “
Balance not right at start of race
By the way, de Vries had already been warned in the first race phase, when he had repeatedly violated track limits. The Dutchman explained this with the “balance at high speed”, which had “always pushed him far out” in the corners.
“I was struggling to turn the car in, especially in the two Lesmo corners. That carried me to the outside. When we adjusted the flap [on the front wing] for the second stint, the balance was better,” said de Vries. “That helped me to be cleaner and safer on the track at the track limits.” And it remained with the one caution.
Probably also because the Williams crew did their bit to guide de Vries through all the procedures. “The team had prepared me well,” de Vries says. “Also in terms of priorities. For example, we didn’t dwell on the error stuff or safety procedures, but focused on what I would need in the race. “
“In the race, again, I asked how I could make certain adjustments and I was told. We had a very good dialogue and communication. I didn’t have to think, just feel, so the team coached me well through the race.”
He just had to “take” that advice and always keep an open ear, says de Vries. “And I also had to trust my feeling. “
De Vries after the race: Exhausted but happy
This feeling tells him he is “tired” after 53 laps of racing at Monza, de Vries continued. “I didn’t sweat much [in the race] and my pulse was also low. But my arms and my shoulders are just tired now.”
And so the question of the next step in his motorsport career remains open. “It’s not up to me to make the driver decision,” de Vries says again. When told that there is still a cockpit available at Alpine, he says simply – and in the style of his Mercedes colleague George Russell: “I might have to put on a PowerPoint presentation!”
But maybe it doesn’t need to. Because Williams team boss Capito also seems very taken with de Vries. Asked if de Vries would not be a good fit for his racing team, Capito told ‘Sky’: “Yes. He is a sunny boy, but of course he pushes. His statements and how he pushes the team, it’s badass. It’s a good combination, I’d say. “
Latifi pales against de Vries in the same car
But where de Vries impressed, Latifi failed: not only did he lose the qualifying duel against the Formula 1 rookie, but he also remained colourless in the race and drove behind.
Capito appeals for understanding for Latifi: “Of course it is extremely difficult for him to get a new driver into the car as a team-mate who is then faster. It’s an extremely big pressure for him.”
Then the Williams team boss adds: “But as a Formula 1 driver you have to be able to handle the pressure. There are only twenty and those are the best, so you have to be able to deal with that and that’s where we have to go from here.” Capito may well decide between de Vries and Latifi for his second cockpit in 2023.
