Nyck de Vries is driving in Formula 1 for the first time – and shines as if he had never done anything else. The Dutchman inspires fans and team bosses alike. For the 27-year-old it is an indication of a great future, but bad news for Mick Schumacher.
Max Verstappen won again, but it wasn’t just the most famous of the Dutch racing drivers who enthralled Formula 1 on Sunday. Nyck de Vries took hearts by storm, driving directly into the points on his debut in the top motorsport class. “The Dutch have a good generation, it’s outstanding what the small country has to offer in terms of driving,” ntv expert Felix Görner praised the performance of the “Flying Dutchman”. He managed it without much preparation, but with a lot of excitement and a large dose of adrenaline.
The Dutch press was jubilant: “In Verstappen’s shadow, his compatriot’s performance was much more extraordinary. De Vries scored championship points in his Formula 1 debut for Williams behind,” wrote “De Volkskrant”. The newspaper “Trouw” celebrated “two Dutch winners”: “For the first time since 2006, two Dutchmen were on the front row at the Italian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen won, debutant Nyck de Vries scored historic points on his debut.”
Actually, de Vries is a test driver for Mercedes, Williams and Aston Martin, on Friday he was allowed to take over the cockpit of Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin in free practice before he suddenly had to climb into the Williams on Saturday. Regular driver Alex Albon had appendicitis, the Thai had to have an operation – and a solution for the racing team. De Vries was 13th in qualifying, but due to numerous penalties from his competitors he was able to start the race from eighth place on Sunday.
“I slept badly, so much went through my head,” said de Vries on ORF afterwards. “But I felt good right after the start. I’m so happy that I took the chance.” The Dutchman was convincing when he came ninth and scored points for Williams directly – and also easily hung from Williams regular driver Nicholas Latifi, who finished 15th. The fans voted him Driver of the Day.
The reigning Formula E world champion and former Formula 2 champion is already 27 years old. Görner calls him a “late-comer” who may now be able to use his last chance for a seat in Formula 1. In any case, this weekend in Monza, de Vries did the best advertising for himself.
“Incredible. He’s always been a part of our family, we’ve always looked at him. Now he’s doing his own thing, getting into the box in the third free practice session, qualifying ahead of his team-mate and casually scoring in the points. That without training – really good,” praised Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who has accompanied the racing driver for a long time. Williams team boss Jost Capito also praised his surprise driver: It was only at 11 a.m. on Saturday that he found out that he had to drive. “Then doing everything absolutely flawlessly – you can see not only that he’s fast, but also that he has the racing intelligence. He had to defend, attack, make a pit stop.”
“You didn’t notice any nervousness in him, although he is natural internally. He did it so professionally as if he had never done anything other than driving Formula 1,” continued Capito. Although in reality everything was new to de Vries. “The engineer said to him: ‘Do this and that setting.’ Then he asked: ‘How does it work?'” said the Williams team boss. But then he just “did it fantastically”.
Capito praises – and has probably found his new driver for the coming season. Latifi was not able to convince at all this year, as the only regular driver in the field has not yet collected a single World Championship point. His contract will probably not be extended. Most recently, Mick Schumacher was still considered a potential candidate for Williams, as Capito also praised him before Monza. Sky had asked him whether he was interested in the German. His answer: “Of course. I think Mick is very fast, he’s a good guy and I think he should be on every list from the teams that have a seat left.” In addition to Williams, these are also Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri, Alpine and Schumacher’s current employer Haas.
But it seems very likely that de Vries has now shocked Williams – and secured the cockpit for himself. “Outwardly he’s a sunny boy, but of course he pushes and he’s tough. The way he pushes the team and his statements are tough. It’s a good combination,” said Capito.
“If one of those who still have a free seat doesn’t snap him up, I won’t understand the world anymore,” said Wolff about the Dutchman’s chances of a cockpit in 2023. And Williams is now the closest. “It is the most likely solution that he will start at Williams,” said Görner. The racer himself was reluctant: “I have no influence on it. I can only do my job and do my best. I hope fate is good to me.”
Schumacher still hopes so too, but for him everything is now focused on Alpine or Haas. The 23-year-old was only able to do 17 practice laps in Monza, otherwise he had to give his car to Antonio Giovinazzi – or deliver it to the pits due to defects. He was only able to start from 17th place, so finishing 12th was basically a success. However, one that didn’t bring him any points again and that didn’t help him with the new contract either. Although team boss Günther Steiner praised him for a “fantastic job”, he also teased: “He lacks consistency.”
“It’s difficult to judge his performance at the weekend,” said Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto, whose junior academy Schumacher (still) belongs to. “We still have a few races left, then we’ll sit down and take stock and hopefully make the best decision for his future.” Should Ferrari let him go, the chances of a non-Ferrari cockpit for Schumacher would increase. The air is slowly getting thin.
“At Alpine, Pierre Gasly has the better cards as a Frenchman and is certainly the experienced driver. I see difficulties in Schumacher getting there,” said ntv expert Görner. That leaves Haas, with whom Steiner has been putting him off for weeks. “The impasse will continue for Mick. We’ll have to wait another two or three races,” Görner believes. Almost everyone would begrudge Schumacher driving a third year in Formula 1. But places on the labor market are scarce.
