Toto Wolff still hopes that Nyck de Vries will be recruited by a Formula 1 team. “He deserves a seat,” says the Austrian team boss of Mercedes about the driver from the Frisian Uitwellingerga.
At Mercedes, however, the door is closed for next year, given the ongoing contracts of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. But Wolff is a powerful person in the Formula 1 paddock. Last year he fought for a spot for De Vries at Williams, but the seat next to Nicholas Latifi went to Alex Albon.
Harmful
Many seats have already been reserved for 2023, but at the same time there are still a few ambiguities. “Teams choose their drivers. If I’m too involved, it’s more harmful to Nyck than good for him,” Wolff said when asked if he would “fight” for the 27-year-old driver.
“So I don’t think such an attitude is appropriate at the moment. But I do think Nyck deserved a seat. His resume is impressive. He is one of the best karters in history, won titles in Formula Renault and Formula 2. I think there are still a few seats available, but I have no idea what exactly will happen.”
Family
De Vries will defend his title in the Formula E electric championship this season, in which he also represents Mercedes. The racing stable will leave that class at the end of this year. Later this season, De Vries will drive at least one more free practice session as reserve driver, then as a replacement for Russell. After all, every team must have a twice a season rookie the chance and De Vries has already been promised that he will also replace Russell on another race weekend. The other reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne already has too much experience in the premier class to qualify.
“Nyck has been part of our family for some time now,” Wolff continues. “It was good to see him in action in a Formula 1 car. Hopefully this isn’t the last year that will happen.”
No expectations
The team boss and CEO of the Mercedes Formula 1 team is satisfied with the way in which De Vries took over the car from Hamilton during the first practice at Paul Ricard. Although De Vries would have preferred a slightly faster time and he was somewhat disappointed by a mistake during a possibly faster run.
“I told him this morning that I had no expectations,” Wolff says about De Vries, who eventually set the ninth time. “This was the first time he was in our car during a Grand Prix weekend. And then you compete against drivers who have been sitting in such a seat all year round. Then you don’t have to look at the stopwatch and at lap times.”