Lewis Hamilton was not behind the wheel of his W13 for FP1 in France, as reserve driver Nyck de Vries got a shot at it.
F1 introduced a rule that will allow fans to see some young rising stars behind the wheel of the cars. Every team now, has to have two of their cars driven by rookie drivers over the course of the season.
Earlier this week, it was announced that reigning Formula E Champion and Mercedes reserve driver De Vries would be replacing Hamilton in FP1 at Le Castellet. This means that we will see George Russell being replaced by someone else later this year.
Fans were eager to see De Vries drive the W13. A lot of fans also believe that he deserves an F1 seat, as he’s a Formula 2 Champion, and also won Formula E last year.
Hamilton and Mercedes fans however, were more excited to see their star driver coaching the Dutchman during the session. This was seen on the cameras, and team boss Toto Wolff later admitted the same.
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Lewis Hamilton gave Nyck de Vries various tips during FP1 in France
According the reports, the 27-year old driver was having a tough time behind the wheels of the W13. Hamilton then took Wolff’s place in the team garage, got on the radio and guided De Vries through the session.
De Vries revealed that the Brit was in touch with him throughout the campaign. He was having troubles with lock-ups, and it was then that the current Mercedes star jumped in to give him tips on steering the car and how to overcome those.
The TV cameras also caught Hamilton speaking to his FP1 replacement on camera. Wolff later revealed what exactly happened.
“Yeah I was a bit confused,” he said. “I came in there and he was sat on my seat. And I thought, why are you not in the car? And then obviously I realized (that De Vries had replaced him).”
“I think it was interesting, because he was coaching Nyck,” Wolff added. “He was helping him with the overlays. It was quite interesting.”
