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 Aleജx Albon at the Italian Grand Prix aft🐻er the Thai driver was forced into hospital with appendicitis.
The Dutchman performed remarkably, reaching Q2 and out-quali🌠fying teammate Nicholas Latifi before converting his strong grid position into a top 10 finish on race 𒁃day.
De Vries has been Mercedes reserve driver since 2021, 🍸while drꦏiving for the German manufacturer in Formula E.
Speaking after 🥃the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, ✅Wolff commented on de Vries’ performance.
“I like him. He is just a good young man,” Wolff said. “He’s not only fast and has shown that in the junior categories, but he is also intelli⛎gent 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 d✃id.
“You are in an Aston Martin, you are driving around with a rake and then you are being drafted in at the last minute in a different car, you are beat🥂ing your team-mate by quite a m♌argin, you are starting eighth and you finish ninth.”
Three-time F1 champi🤡on Niki Lauda spent severa🍰l years as part of Mercedes’ management team.
Whenever a driver impressed, particularly Lewis Hamilton, he would take off hi🅺s red cap as a sign of re🃏spect.
Wolff bel🐬ieves had Lauda been present at Monza on Sunda𝄹y, he would have done it.
“Niki would have taken his hꦰat off as a driver,” he added.
‘Like a job interview or audition’
De Vries has likened his one-off appearance at Monza to a ‘job in𝓀terview or audition’.
“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 much and too little.
“But I am just grateful that it worked out well and played into ou🎐r hands. We took some points and it was a great performance. And no🥂 one can take that away from us.”
With a sharp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines🤪, Connor is the𝓰 heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
