De Vries Monza debut a "great influence" on AlphaTauri

Ian Parkes
Friday 14 October 2022 16:48 - Updated: 16:49

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has revealed the "great influence" of Nyck de Vries' acclaimed F1 debut for Williams in the team's decision to hire the Dutchman.

The former Formula E champion was recently confirmed as the replacement for race-winner Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri.

De Vries had impressed in a trio of FP1 outings this year for Mercedes, Williams and Aston Martin but his quality shone through when called up as a last-minute substitute for Alex Albon in the Italian Grand Prix and scoring points on his F1 debut.

It led to the 27-year-old being linked to a number of vacancies.

Asked how De Vries' performance at Monza altered the thinking of AlphaTauri, Tost said: "This had a great influence because it showed his potential.

"He drove a fantastic race, did not make any mistake and therefore, it was an easy decision to take him."

He added: "Monza was important but it was not an eye-opener because Nyck was on the radar before.

"And the special circumstances that other drivers left teams and then that Red Bull also decided [initially] not to race with Pierre Gasly from 2023 onwards.

"All of these components together brought us to the decision that Nyck de Vries was the best possibility and that he would fit quite well with the team."

De Vries' history of success

De Vries has been on the fringes of F1 for some time after being part of the McLaren Young Driver Programme between 2010 and '19 before linking up with Mercedes in 2020.

Asked why AlphaTauri had signed the Dutchman, Tost said: "Because he is fast.

"I know his history. I saw him in karting - he won, I think it was 2010 and 2011, the European and world championship in karting and then he was really successful in all the categories that he raced.

"He won in Formula Renault, he won in GP3, he won in Formula 2. He won also the Formula E world championship and therefore I think he is a very highly skilled driver and he deserves to be in Formula 1."