Despite the excellent driving qualities shown in numerous categories, with victories in Formula 2 and Formula E, the dream of reaching Formula 1 always seemed distant for the Dutchman. Nyck De Vriesat least until the opportunity of the 2022 Italian GP suddenly presented itself: called almost at the last moment by Williams to replace Albon, De Vries surprised everyone by placing himself in the points, thus increasing his chances of get a seat for the 2023. A goal officially achieved on the eve of the Japanese GP, the weekend in which theAlphaTauri announced him as the next driver in place of Pierre Gasly.
A milestone finally materialized at the age of 27 years oldyoung on his identity card but not very young as far as Formula 1 is concerned. In any case, with the promotion to the Faenza team, De Vries will complete the “Gang of five”that is, all those drivers who have raced together in karts and who have then reached the pinnacle of motorsport: Alexander Albon, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, George Russell and indeed Nyck De Vries.
Regarding this ‘meeting’ for 2023, Russell expressed himself, happy to be able to find all his former rivals of all time also in Formula 1: “Among the guys in karting, Nyck was the only one who didn’t make it to F1, and he probably deserved to get there – explained the English of the Mercedes – Of those five riders who were in that era of racing against each other at 11, 12, Nyck was the only one who couldn’t make it, so I’m happy for him. I have always esteemed him. In go-karting he was the man to beat. Of all of us, he was probably the most successful. To get to Formula 1, you have to be in the right place at the right time, when there is an opportunity on the grid, and sometimes the stars don’t align. The number of stars that lined up at Monza made up for the situation. Now I’m curious to see how he will fare, but I have no doubt he will perform well. He has every chance to become a great F1 driver ″.
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