De Vries proud of Formula 1 debut: 'Went by in a flash'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Nyck de Vries thought at the start of the race weekend that he would only drive the first free practice session for Aston Martin, but that changed when Alexander Albon cancelled himself. With a ninth place finish, he can look back on an excellent Formula 1 debut.
The Dutchman had only the third free practice session on Saturday to get to know the Williams car further on the track. Despite the challenge, De Vries managed a good starting position and finished directly in the points in his debut.
"It may not feel quite like a victory," De Vries told Viaplay. "But it has been a great weekend. Especially considering I only got word one and a half hours before the start of the third free practice that I would be driving. It all went by in a flash. But maybe that is a good thing. You don't have time to think and then it's just 'go with the flow' and do your job."
De Vries got a lot of help from Williams
Williams says its team prepared him extremely well for the race, which enabled him to achieve a great performance. As he finished ahead of Nicholas Latifi in the race, he gave his calling card to the British racing team.
"We made good use of the tools in the car to influence it a little bit. That was something I wasn't quite familiar with. I was constantly asking the team how I should do it and they gave me the instructions to do it. But in the end it's my call in the car to feel what I need to manage the situation."