During the first free practice of the Spanish GP, in May, Nyck de Vries was there, with the Williams car. During the first session of the French GP in July, the Dutchman appeared again, but in a Mercedes suit. At Zandvoort last weekend, he spent the entire race alongside German team principal Wolff, an easy target for broadcast cameras.
And guess who was called up to ride with Aston Martin at Monza this Friday?
In common, the three teams use Mercedes engines, the car manufacturer that De Vries has championed for the past two seasons in Formula E, the FIA World Championship for electric single-seaters.
Three free trials by three different teams are no coincidence. It’s a plan. The 27-year-old Dutchman, champion of F2 in 2019 and Formula E in 2021, is prepared by the German brand for the possibility of returning to a cockpit in F1 next year. And that would be at Williams.
The automaker has adopted a clever tactic, exploiting a novelty in the regulations. Starting this year, each team is required to start rookies in two free trials. It’s a way to give a run-in to test riders who, in practice, hardly ever test.
In Barcelona, De Vries covered 131 km and finished 18th, just ahead of Latifi. At Paul Ricard he added another 134 km and finished ninth, five positions behind Russell. This time, his parameter will be Stroll _the Dutchman will take over Vettel’s car, already on the verge of retirement.
The vacancy he covets is that of Latifi. And the clock is ticking.
On vacation in F1, the Canadian was warned by Williams that his performance in the sequence of the three stages of August and September would be decisive.
“I know what the goals are from my side. The team wants performance, of course. In the end, that will decide everything,” said Latifi in Belgium. “I’m going to try to give the car as much as possible in these races. It seems simple. It’s not. But that’s what I have to do.”
At Spa he was 18th while his teammate Albon started from the pit lane and finished tenth. At Zandvoort, he is 18th again, one lap behind the leaders _Albon is 12th.
At the Worlds, Latifi is the only driver to have zero among those who have competed in all the GPs. And we sorely miss it. At the end of the year, each point brings about $1 million to each team in the division’s revenue division.
In addition to the Canadian, another driver is starting to feel fried: Zhou, from Alfa Romeo.
Vasseur, the team boss, has told the Netherlands that he will decide “very soon” whether the Chinese will stay.
Schumacher and Ricciardo watch…
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