De Vries to take Vettel's F1 seat for Italian GP FP1 session
Nyck de Vries will take over Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin Formula 1 seat for the opening free practice session of the Italian Grand Prix weekend at Monza.
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The Dutchman has already participated in two FP1 sessions during the 2022 season, taking over Alex Albon's Williams at the Spanish Grand Prix before driving Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes at Paul Ricard ahead of the French Grand Prix.
De Vries has already spent time preparing for his outing in Aston Martin's AMR22 by driving the team's simulator at its Silverstone base, having been in talks with the team earlier this season about stepping in for an FP1 session.
The 27-year-old, the Formula 2 champion in 2019, has just completed his third Formula E campaign with Mercedes and took two wins en route to ninth in the championship. He won the 2020-21 title by seven points from Venturi driver Edoardo Mortara.
He has since dovetailed his time in Formula E with a Mercedes reserve role, but that could come to an end following the departure of the German manufacturer from the all-electric series.
"I am really looking forward to driving for AMF1, particularly at such a legendary circuit as Monza," said de Vries.
"It will be my third FP1 session of the season, and in the third different Formula 1 chassis, and these opportunities have given me a fantastic insight into how Formula 1 cars and teams function and operate.
"I hope I can bring a fresh perspective to the AMF1 team and can undertake a run-programme that proves beneficial to us both."
Nyck de Vries, Williams FW44
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
As per the new regulations in 2022, each driver must vacate their seat at least once over the season to allow a driver with fewer than two F1 starts to take over. This is to allow younger drivers to gain experience of F1 machinery.
This will be the first time this year that either Aston Martin driver has given up a seat in FP1, with Lance Stroll due to do so later in the season.
Liam Lawson was the most recent rookie driver handed an FP1 appearance, as the Kiwi took over Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri seat for the opening session at Spa-Francorchamps.
De Vries was previously linked with an F1 drive at Williams, having been considered last season to replace George Russell before Albon got the nod for 2022.
He remains one of the drivers touted to replace Nicholas Latifi at the team for next season, but has also been linked with a Toyota drive in the World Endurance Championship and a role with the Maserati MSG Formula E team - as the Italian manufacturer takes over the naming rights of the Venturi squad.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Three-time F1 world champion Verstappen named in 2024 Time 100 list
F1 Japanese GP: Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 in FP1, Sargeant crashes
When is the perfect time for F1 teams to focus on 2024?
Porsche lodges appeal over da Costa's Misano Formula E disqualification
2024 MotoGP world championship standings after the Americas GP
What Aston Martin’s curfew burn told us about its F1 upgrade trajectory
Tank Slappers Podcast: MotoGP Americas GP review
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
The secrets of F1 turbocharging explained
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments