Nyck de Vries convinced in his Williams assignment as a substitute for the sick Alex Albon in Monza. Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer explains why the Dutchman deserved good grades.
“Stepping in for just one race is a difficult undertaking in every series, especially in Formula 1. The routine and everyone is well-rehearsed. They know how things are going, while you’re constantly struggling to keep up,” said Jolyon Palmer in his analysis of Nyck de Vries’ GP debut at Monza.
“What makes Nyck’s debut even more remarkable is the fact that he didn’t drive for Williams at all on Friday and had no preparation at all ahead of the weekend until he was called up to replace Alex Albon on Saturday morning,” he said British. “Not only did he jump in at the deep end in the middle of the season once morest the best riders in the world, he also had next to no preparation time. The ninth place in the race was therefore also an excellent result. And the way he achieved it was even more remarkable.”
“Aston Martin sent de Vries out onto the track in Sebastian Vettel’s car in the first practice session, which just so happened to be a real bonus for the Dutchman, who was able to get an overview even though he didn’t know he was in the race at the time would take part,” Palmer continues. knows well. The power unit setup and operations are among the more complex differences between the different cars, but all Mercedes-powered cars work the same way in this regard.”
“The biggest challenges for De Vries were getting used to a new race engineer and how the Williams team worked at the tricky and crucial stages of the weekend, as well as getting to grips with the characteristics of the Williams car in such a short amount of time to get,” says the 31-year-old.
In qualifying, he delivered a strong performance, Palmer said. “For me, however, the race was even more impressive than qualifying. Albon was on average half a second quicker than Latifi on Saturdays so it wasn’t entirely surprising that De Vries was able to be faster as well – Latifi particularly struggles with this generation of cars. It was the way the debutant got through the race that secured him the points,” he emphasizes.
De Vries also made a strong impression on the radio. Palmer knows: “When listening to the radio traffic between driver and engineer, it was also impressive to hear how de Vries was able to get an overview of the race, ask his engineer regarding settings and important strategic ones in the heat of the moment to give hints.”
“Having the mental capacity to think regarding subtle differential and brake balance adjustments can make a world of difference to a driver’s performance in an ever-changing race situation where tires are degrading and compounds are changing,” notes Palmer clear.
“The late safety car period may have been a reprieve for Williams as de Vries’ car was starting to overheat the brakes and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was hot on his heels, but it was no less than deserved reward for an outstanding Debut», concludes the former GP driver.
Championship status (following 16 of 22 races)
driver
01. Verstappen 335 points
02. Leclerc 219
03. Pérez 210
04. Russell 203
05. Sainz 187
06. Hamilton 168
07. Norris 88
08. Ocon 66
09. Alonso 59
10. Bottas 46
11. Gasly 22
12. Magnussen 22
13. Vettel 20
14. Ricciardo 19
15. Schumacher 12
16. Tsunoda 11
17. Zhou 6
18. Stroll 5
19. Albon 4
20. DeVries 2
21. Latif 0
22. Nico Hülkenberg (D) 0
Constructors’ Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 545 Punkte
02. Ferrari 406
03. Mercedes 371
04. Alpine 125
05. McLaren 107
06. Alfa Romeo 52
07. Haas 34
08. AlphaTauri 33
09. Aston Martin 25
10. Williams 6
