Both George Russell and Nyck De Vries debuted in Formula 2 in the 2018 season and while Russell, Lando Norris and Alex Albon made it to F1, the Dutch driver had to carry on.
Now that De Vries has made it into F1 with the AlphaTauri team in the 2023 season, he blames himself for not being able to have graduated from F2 when Russell and the other three drivers did.
Back in 2018, the four finished 1-2-3-4 in the f2 championship standings. Russell was promoted to F1 with the Williams F1 team, Norris got into McLaren and Albon secured a seat with the Toro Rosso.
Finally, in 2019, De Vries clinched the F2 championship but at the time no F1 seats were available. So he took the role of Mercedes reserve driver.
Also Read: Red Bull Only Paid Ford $1 to Get Into F1 and Absolutely Dominate It
Nyck de Vries blames himself
Speaking in the Alphatauri podcast, De Vries blamed himself for not being able gran the F1 seat way back in 2018.
He said that he himself made a few mistakes and finished P4 in the championship. Otherwise, he would have at least grabbed P2 or P3.
Furthermore, De Vries revealed that the Prema Racing team had a very good pace and they did win a good amount of races. But then he made too many expensive mistakes.
“I finished fourth and, in all honesty, I just looked at myself because I felt like it was my own mistake that I wasn’t able to score more points,” he said.
a big year ahead for our new recruit @nyckdevries! 👊 pic.twitter.com/CuhM8o6TTj
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) January 10, 2023
How did De Vries find his way into F1?
After Albon made his way back to the F1 grid following his demotion from Red Bull with the Williams F1 team, De Vries replaced him in Monza in 2022 as the British Thai driver had surgery to undergo.
He ended up finishing within the points and impress his bosses and make a place for himself in the drivers’ market.
Ultimately, De Vries secured his long-held goal by clinching an F1 seat with AlphaTauri replacing Pierre Gasly and taking a seat next to Yuki Tsunoda.
