The sudden appendicitis that hit Alex Albon a few hours before qualifying for the Italian GP prompted Williams to call Nyck De Vries as a substitute for the Anglo-Thai driver, also favored by the physical presence of the Dutchman in Monza to participate in PL1 with Aston Martin. After a 13th place finish in his first official career test in the Circus – then converted to 8th place on the grid due to numerous penalties – De Vries managed to withstand the pressure of his debut and the attacks of his most experienced players. opponents, crossing the finish line in ninth position.
Since then, the prices to see the 27-year-old on track in 2023 have drastically increased, so much so that he could be reconfirmed in Williams in place of Nicholas Latifi or even chosen byAlpine as a replacement for Fernando Alonso. While waiting to understand what the official choices will be – with Alpine having included him in the list of pilots who will face the maxi-test in Budapest – the current moment of De Vries seems in some way to go back in time to a curious episode and far-sighted by Hamilton, in the period in which the latter was standard bearer of McLaren. In that case, however, the Hamilton in question was not the one who later became world champion seven times, but the father of the number 44: Anthony.
After stopping the activity of manager of his son in 2010, Hamilton Senior maintained the same role for other drivers, including De Vries himself, trying in every way to promote him to Formula 1 when he was part of the McLaren Junior program. Operations failed, but remembered today by the Mercedes driver, a team in which the Dutchman is still engaged today as a test driver: “Nyck is a very talented driver, I met him when he was very young – has explained – when I was at McLaren, my father tried to help him get into Formula 1. He’s really valuable to our team, he does a lot for us in the simulator and he’s always positive. I was very happy to hear that he had the chance to ride on a GP weekend. According to me deserves a place in Formula 1“.
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