Nyck de Vries is the current Formula E champion and, in turn, is part of the list of Mercedes reserve drivers in F1, which has led him to debut with Williams in FP1 of the Spanish GP, in which It will be his first official session in a top-flight weekend.
This opportunity has come to him after having shown great talent in the electric car category, although it is also due in part to the new regulations that oblige all teams to ride a rookie driver in at least two practice sessions throughout the year. throughout the 2022 season.
De Vries, who was long a part of McLaren’s young driver program before leaving in 2019, was also one of the contenders to fill George Russell’s vacant seat at Williams at the end of 2021, when the Briton left for join Mercedes.
However, the team decided to opt for the services of Alex Albon , because he already had experience in F1, thanks to the two seasons he spent in the category with Toro Rosso and Red Bull.
De Vries says this free practice session is a great way to ‘jump into the ring’ and he expects big challenges as he adapts to the FW44 chassis.
“Obviously I am very grateful for the opportunity to race in a free practice session, as well as to be able to meet the team, but also to jump into the ring in what will be my first Formula 1 weekend,” said the Dutchman.
“I haven’t given much thought to real targets, it’s just a one-hour session and you have to do like three runs with two different tire compounds, which are at both ends of the [hardness] spectrum.”
“So it’s going to be a very interesting and exciting challenge. But I’m looking forward to this experience and hopefully I can do well.”
Asked by Motorsport.com about his goals for the session, the Dutchman explained that he didn’t know what to expect from her but he did think she was going to “jump into the deep end”.
He also explained that he needs time to adapt to the car at the Barcelona circuit, since he has only been behind the wheel of this type of single-seater on two occasions, during the end-of-year young driver tests and with Mercedes.
“Honestly, from an expectation point of view, I don’t really know what to think,” de Vries added.
“I think I’m going to jump a bit, I’ve only driven an F1 car twice and both times were in the rookie tests in 2020 and 2021 with Mercedes.
“The last time I drove such a fast car on a permanent circuit was quite some time ago, so I will have to adapt to the urban tracks we normally race on,” De Vries concluded, referring to the urban layouts used by Formula E.
