Nyck de Vries ready for F1 2023. Many thanks to Max Verstappen.
His advice laid the foundation for the contract with AlphaTauri.
Nick de Vries, 27, made a big impression as he drove towards the points on his Formula One debut at Monza. De Vries is a test driver for Mercedes and ran the first training in Italy for customer team Aston Martin, but when Alex Albon developed appendicitis, he had to jump with Williams instead.
He was impressed in qualifying and in the race. The next day he took the opportunity to spend some time with his compatriot Max Verstappen.
– The day after the race at Monza, we went out to dinner together and I simply asked him to give Helmut a nod, Verstappen told the Dutch edition of motorsport.com.
Verstappen says he has asked Nyck de Vries to contact Helmut Marko, motorsport advisor and talent scout for Red Bull and AlphaTauri.
– It was exactly the time to call him. Helmut may still be too impressed with Sunday’s race, says Verstappen.
Heart AlphaTauri by de Vries
De Vries finished ninth and took his first F1 points in the second weekend of September, and two weeks later his contract with AlphaTauri was signed. Nick de Vries, who won the Formula E championship for electric cars in 2021, will drive Formula 1 in 2023. Replacing Pierre Gasly, who is leaving the stable for Alpine.
– Max was really helpful Marco was quoted by Motorsporttotal.com.
– Nyck is not the youngest driver anymore, but he has a lot of experience from several different championships. What really impressed me was when he drove Sebastian Vettel for Aston Martin, on Friday. I listened to his radio traffic and the comments he made in the stable were absolutely fantastic.
After the race at Monza, de Vries was not only a candidate for the driver’s seat at Williams, who has a vacant seat, but also for the seat of AlphaTauri, who launches his team captain Gasly to Alpine, despite having a contract.
Nick got in the car, drove the race, and delivered it. He was putting pressure on him, but he did nothing wrong and that impressed us. After that we had a chat in Graz and then I got confirmation that he was the right guy.
Another important detail is that de Vries has been Mercedes’ reserve driver for many years.
Of course, the team will be able to benefit from it. He’s been a backup driver for almost every Mercedes-powered team and has driven many simulators. Marco says, we want to share this experience.
At the moment, there are two drivers’ places left for the Formula 1 World Championship 2023, with Haas and Williams.
Short news – Max Verstappen
There are a few of you who have emailed and asked who Max Verstappen’s girlfriend is, if he’s still with Swede Michaela Olin-Kotolinsky. The answer is no, it is not. It’s been two years since they ended that relationship. He’s been with Kelly Pique, 33, for nearly two years.
She is the daughter of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet. She has a three-year-old daughter, Penelope, with former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat. Race with Red Bull and AlphaTauri until 2020.
The painting is back in Matane. This week we talk about the Japanese GP and talk about the chaos after the finish when Max Verstappen became world champion. You can find Sportbladet’s F1 Plattan i Mattan podcast here. Here you can read a photo of Max Verstappen. It gives a little picture of his personality and how he got where he is now.