Nyck de Vries has opened up on the support Max Verstappen gave him in his first foray into Formula One. World champion Verstappen shares a close relationship with his fellow Dutchman, and was an instrumental figure in the Mercedes test driver securing a full-time seat at Alpha Tauri.
De Vries is set to join the F1 grid for his first full season in 2023 after making a mark in the sport when stepping in for Williams at the Italian Grand Prix this year. The 27-year-old replaced the unwell Alex Albon in Monza, and impressed by out-qualifying teammate Nicolas Latifi.
A superb qualifying Saturday suddenly meant De Vries was lining up alongside Verstappen on the fourth row of the grid, after the Red Bull star received a power unit penalty.
And De Vries has spoken about how ‘older brother’ Verstappen proved a superb support mechanism during his first race weekend in F1 as he claimed two points for Williams.
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“Monza was actually the first time in our lives we raced against each other,” De Vries told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast. “Ironically, we even ended up next to each other on the grid. We were texting about it the evening prior to the race on Saturday evening and we were texting again on Sunday morning.
“On the grid, he came to see me and, as an older brother does, encouraged me a little bit, which was very kind – he’s been very supportive.”
De Vries had been in negotiations to take the Williams seat on a full-time basis before joining Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri. And it was a significant dinner with Verstappen in Monaco, the day after picking up points in his first ever race in F1, that changed De Vries’ outlook.
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Verstappen had mentioned to friend De Vries about the possibility of moving to AlphaTauri rather than Williams, which accelerated talks with Red Bull’s advisor Helmut Marko and ultimately led to him replacing Pierre Gasly.
“So we were in close conversations with Williams for a longer time,” De Vries said. “I spoke to Jost (Capito) on the Tuesday after the weekend. The Alpine test was always scheduled, it was scheduled way before Monza – actually, I went to the Alpine facilities just ahead of Spa.
“But then I had dinner with Max on the Monday evening in Monaco, just to celebrate together, and we talked about it openly about the possibilities and opportunities. We talked about potentially… AlphaTauri and Dr (Helmut) Marko. That is how it went.”
