Formula 1 Spanish GP
De Vries expects to be "thrown in the deep" in F1 practice debut
Nyck de Vries expects to be "thrown in the deep" in his upcoming Formula 1 FP1 debut at the Spanish Grand Prix, driving Alex Albon's Williams in the session.
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited: May 19, 2022, 3:33 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Reigning Formula E champion de Vries, part of Mercedes' F1 reserve roster in addition to his duties with the German manufacturer's FE squad, has earned a call-up to drive in FP1 at Barcelona - his first outing in an official F1 session. This was helped in part due to new rules mandating teams to run rookie drivers in at least two free practice sessions.
De Vries, who was a long-time member of McLaren's junior programme before leaving in 2019, was a contender for the Williams drive vacated by George Russell at the end of 2021 as the Brit left to join Mercedes.
However, Williams elected to bring Alex Albon into the fold owing to his two seasons of experience already in F1 with Toro Rosso and Red Bull.
De Vries says the test is a great way to "get myself out there", and expects to be challenged heavily as he adapts to the FW44 chassis.
"I'm obviously very thankful and grateful for the opportunity to run in an FP1 session and kind of get to know the team, but also to kind of get myself out there during a Formula 1 weekend," said de Vries,
"I haven't really thought about real targets; it's only a one hour session, and you get like three runs on two different compounds, which are both on the extreme end of the spectrum.
"So it's going to be a very interesting, exciting challenge. But I'm looking forward to the experience, and hopefully I can do well."
Nyck de Vries, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
When asked by Motorsport.com about his goals for the session, de Vries explained that he didn't know what to expect from the session and expects to be in at the "deep" end.
He also elaborated that he needed time to adapt to the car around the Barcelona circuit, having only driven F1 cars for Mercedes twice in the end-of-year young driver tests.
"In all honesty, from a kind of expectations point of view, I don't really know what to expect," de Vries added.
"I think I'm going to be thrown a little bit in the deep, I've only driven an F1 car twice, which was both rookie tests in 2020 and '21 with Mercedes.
"But the last time I've actually driven a very quick car on a track, it's been a little while ago, so will require some adaptations from the street tracks we know."
Read Also:
- Williams thinks qualifying issues hiding true F1 car potential
- Horner: Angsty Verstappen nothing to worry about
- Why the lack of "needle" between Red Bull and Ferrari is a mirage
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Horner: Angsty Verstappen nothing to worry about
Next article Is F1 heading for a budget cap showdown over Red Bull/Ferrari development war?
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jake Boxall-Legge
More from
Nyck de Vries
How Mahindra missed out on London win but capped its best Formula E season yet
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
How Mahindra missed out on London win but capped its best Formula E season yet
Formula E Monaco: Nyck de Vries storms to victory, Dan Ticktum loses podium due to penalty
Formula E
Formula E
Monaco ePrix I
Formula E Monaco: Nyck de Vries storms to victory, Dan Ticktum loses podium due to penalty
Nyck de Vries on potential McLaren Hypercar link-up: “I’ll keep that to myself”
WEC
WEC
Spa
Nyck de Vries on potential McLaren Hypercar link-up: “I’ll keep that to myself”
More from
Williams
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Latest news
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
2 h
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
5 h
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
6 h
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 6 h
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe