Nyck de Vries’ plan for the weekend was to drive in FP1 with Aston Martin and chat with Will Buxton for F1 TV. By the end of the weekend, de Vries was been able to do a lot more, and will look back on the 3 days with bliss.

Williams’ boss, Jost Capito, was jubilant with the performance he got from the young Dutchman. He waxed lyrical about de Vries’ outing in the post-match interviews.

Nyck de Vries’ dream start to F1 at Monza

De Vries started Sunday in the eighth place as he replaced Alex Albon. The completely unplanned inclusion to the race weekend was due to Albon’s unfortunate appendicitis issues. However, Nyck chose to grab the opportunity with both hands. And the Dutchman earned 2 points on his F1 debut.

As the Mercedes reserve driver finished at P9, he has already scored more points than Williams’ 2nd driver, Nicholas Latifi. Capito was ecstatic and said “It doesn’t surprise me that Nyck has done so well. I value him very highly, which is why I expect a lot from him.” (translated using Google Translate)

“But he has exceeded expectations.”

“Nyck had to defend, attack, watch the tires, make pit stops… Besides, there are so many buttons on the steering wheel: that is all quite a bit to absorb.”

“A Formula 1 car is much more complicated than any car he has driven. However, Nyck has a good feeling for that.”

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The points earned by de Vries seemed to be under threat for a while. The race stewards had pulled up the young driver for a possible offense while the safety car was on the track.

Why did the FIA investigate the Dutchman?

De Vries was under investigation for having stopped behind Pierre Gasly while a safety car was on the track. This was possibly an attempt to maintain his delta time. But luck continued to stay on his side as the stewards decided to not impose a penalty on de Vries.

The stewards accepted his explanation and reported “The Stewards took note of the fact that the driver was a “last minute” replacement for the usual team driver and had driven this car for the first time in FP3 at this event. Therefore, in mitigation the Stewards decide to impose the penalty of a Reprimand instead of a higher penalty.”

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De Vries’ formidable performance at Monza has surely put him on the map. He will be looking forward to the next weekend in Singapore if Albon is unable to make it back. As fans, we have another talent to relish.