Nick de Vries has “no hard feelings” after missing out on F1 seat

De Vries secured the F2 title with a round spare, finishing the season 52 points ahead of Nicolas Latifi, who will race for Williams in 2020, with ART but joins former GP2 champion and F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne in Formula E.

The Dutchman had been a McLaren young driver up until May earlier this year.
 
“I had a personal target,” said de Vries as quoted by MotorsportWeek.
 
“I wanted to win this season to make a point, to show the world that we, as a team, have the capabilities to win this.
 
“But at the same time, I know this world is not so straightforward.
 
“Things change quickly, there are a lot of different things that play a role in actually making it into Formula 1 and not just delivering the job is enough.
 
“And I accept that, and I’m aware of that, so I’m a realistic person and I’ve no hard feelings toward that.
 
“At the same time, I’m also very happy for Nicholas Latifi, who will get the opportunity, because, honestly, you know, he did a good season too.
 
“I got another opportunity in Formula E with Mercedes Benz EQ, and I’m honestly super happy and grateful for it.”
 
The 24-year old raced the previous F2 season in 2018, finishing fourth behind champion George Russell, Lando Norris and Alex Albon, who were all selected for an F1 seat for 2019, admitting it was “painful” to see them move up.
 
“Last year I kind of, yeah, take the responsibility for missing out on the true championship battle,” he added.

“We were certainly in a position to fight for it, but we, we as a team and me personally made too many mistakes to really have a good go on it.
 
“And I think it was a shame, and a bit painful to see the whole top three promoting to F1, knowing that one mistake would have been enough to be second in the championship.
 
“So I was very grateful to get a kind of second chance with ART. It felt like coming home.”