Nyck de Vries will be the second Dutch racing driver in Formula 1 next year, next to Max Verstappen. The 27-year-old Frisian racing driver has been given a permanent seat at AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s sister team has announced. He signs a contract and will replace Pierre Gasly, who will replace Fernando Alonso at Alpine from 2023. De Vries will be a teammate of the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri.
De Vries has been in the picture at Formula 1 for years, but he never really had a view of a competition seat. Until September at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, when he was allowed to fill in for the Williams team as a replacement for the ailing Alexander Albon. The Dutchman made a big impression by immediately taking the points in his first grand prix. He finished ninth.
The reactions from the royal class to his flawless performance were positive. Team boss Jost Capito of Williams was in any case convinced of De Vries’ qualities and explicitly put him forward for a place at the British racing stable, but De Vries was also delighted in Alpine’s interest.
AlphaTauri was initially not particularly interested in De Vries. Red Bull, which determines the occupation of the sister team, bet on the arrival of the American Colton Herta. But when it turned out that the IndyCar champion did not have enough points for the required Formula 1 license and the international motorsport federation FIA did not want to grant a dispensation, CEO Helmut Marko no longer doubted. He invited De Vries for an interview and that led to the contract with AlphaTauri.
Just like Max Verstappen in his youth, De Vries caused a furore in karting. He moved from karting to car racing and entered Formula 2 in 2017. In 2019 he captured the title in the talent class, but the coveted transition to a Formula 1 team was not forthcoming. De Vries did not let himself be shaken and quietly continued his career, which reached a new peak in 2021 with the world title in the electric car racing class Formula E. From that year on, he also functioned as a reserve for the Mercedes team.
This year De Vries was allowed to drive his first free practice in the Grand Prix of Spain. He drove Albon’s Williams. In the Grand Prix of France he got some Formula 1 time again; he drove in the first free practice in Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. In the Italian Grand Prix he was given the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel in the first free practice. The next day he heard 1.5 hours before the third practice that he would replace Albon at Williams. De Vries seized the opportunity with both hands and proved in the race at Monza that he is ready for a full life as a Formula 1 driver. He is the sixteenth Dutchman in Formula 1.