Toto Wolff praises Nyck de Vries: ‘No one could have done a better job than him’
De Vries was drafted in 🍨as a last minute replacement for Alex Albon at the Italian Grand Prix after the Thai driver was forced into hospital with appendicitis.
The Dutchman performed remarkably, reaching Q2 and✅ out-qualifying teammate Nicholas Latifi before converting his strong grid positi🥀on into a top 10 finish on race day.
De Vries has been Mercedes reserve driver since 2021, while driving for the German manufacturer in For♕mula E.
Speaking after the👍 Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, Wolff commented on de Vries’ performance.
“I like him. He is just a good youn𒁏g man,” Wolff said. “He’s not only fast and has shown that in the junior categories, but he is also intelligent and a good team player, that is why he deserved it here. I don’t think that anyone else could have possibly done a better job in what he did.
“You are in an Aston Martin, you are d🔴riving around with a rake and then yo🔯u are being drafted in at the last minute in a different car, you are beating your team-mate by quite a margin, you are starting eighth and you finish ninth.”
Three-time F1 champion Niki Lauda spent several years as part of ✨Mercedes’ management team.
Whenever a driver impressed, particularly L𒁃ewis Hamilton, he would take off his red cap as a sign of respect.
Wolff believes had La🔯uda been present at Monza on Sunday, he would have done it.
“Niki would have taken his hat off as a drive🥀r,” he added.
‘Like a job interview or audition’
De Vries has likened his one-off appearance at Monza to a ‘job interview or audit𓄧ion’.
“Yeah, I mean any time you’re in the car you’re expected to do a good job,” de Vries added. “And any time you get a chance to drive a Formula 1 car it is a kind of job interview and an audition. You’ve got to take those opportunities, but you’ve also got to use them sensibly because there’s always a trade-off of doing too muc🍸h and too little.
“But I am just grateful that it♈ worked out well and played into our h🍷ands. We took some points and it was a great performance. And no one can take that away from us.”
With a sharpও eye for F1’s🃏 controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
