After surprising positively in his debut in Formula 1 at the Italian Grand Prix this season, as a substitute for Alexander Albon at Williams, his name fully entered the list of future prospects of several teams and, as announced a few years ago days, he finally signed for AlphaTauri.
The team based in Faenza is part of the Red Bull structure and one of its main rivals is Mercedes, a team with which Nyck De Vries has shared many moments in recent campaigns, both in Formula 1 and in other categories such as Formula E, where the Dutch driver was proclaimed world champion.
Obviously, as a reserve driver, De Vries worked during the current course with Mercedes for next year and, in addition, he drove his single-seater, the W13, as well as the other cars powered by the Germans during some FP1 sessions, obtaining a great knowledge both from the power unit and from its particular single-seater concept.
Despite all this, the Brackley team say they are not afraid of the information that the 27-year-old Dutch driver can bring to both AlphaTauri and his older brother, Red Bull.
Mercedes technical director Mike Elliot spoke about it for Motorsport.com and answered all questions about it, removing any doubts that might exist and confirming that the Dutchman will not be able to take advantage of his information.
“I am very happy that Nyck has had this opportunity. Maybe it is unlucky, seeing where he is going , but that is beside the point. I think he deserves it, he has shown several times that he is an excellent driver. It is a pleasure to work with him when he’s in the garage. He’s a really nice guy, he knows what this is about and understands the car very well,” Elliott said.
” Formula 1 changes very quickly . You learn very quickly and that means that what you said a year ago is probably not very useful now. Maybe it takes the way we work together, our processes and our systems , but nothing beyond that. of that,” he concluded.
If one thing is clear, it is that since his signing with AlphaTauri was confirmed, and even before, at the time when the rumors and negotiations began, Mercedes surely removed Nyck De Vries from his project for the car of the season 2023 , so the information that he can provide to Red Bull is probably minimal.
Nyck de Vries al volante del Mercedes W13 en Francia
