‘He deserves a place in Formula 1’: Lewis Hamilton reveals his father Anthony attempted to get Nyck de Vries into Formula 1


‘He deserves a place in Formula 1’: Lewis Hamilton reveals his father Anthony attempted to get Nyck de Vries into Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton and Nyck de Vries

Nyck de Vries had a dream debut in Monza. Curiously, the Dutchman drove for two teams that weekend: He drove in FP1 for Aston Martin, and then following Alex Albon’s appendicitis diagnosis, he replaced the Thai driver for qualifying and the race. As if the weekend could get any better, he started 8th.

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De Vries has long been considered one of the candidates for a Formula 1 seat, and he was earlier reported as being considered to be a replacement for Nicholas Latifi. As fate would have it, the Dutchman had a chance to prove his mettle against the same driver this weekend, and he duly delivered.

While his teammate finished down in sixteenth, de Vries finished in the points on his debut, at P9. This means that currently, Nyck de Vries is ahead of Nicholas Latifi in the championship. It was a fantastic debut weekend for the Dutchman, and it attracted much praise. He was lauded to no ends by Lewis Hamilton, who also revealed that the Briton’s father tried to get de Vries into Formula 1.

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Lewis Hamilton: ‘[Nyck de Vries] is a very talented driver’

Nyck de Vries and Lewis Hamilton
Nyck de Vries and Lewis Hamilton

Nyck de Vries was part of McLaren’s young driver programme from 2010 until 2019. Before Hamilton went to Mercedes, he was at McLaren, and for some time, managed by his father, Anthony Hamilton. That was until 2010, the year when de Vries became part of the programme.

As reported by RacingNews365, after his son, Hamilton Sr. became the manager to young Nyck de Vries. Talking on this subject, Lewis Hamilton revealed that he has known de Vries for a long time: “Nyck is a very talented driver, I knew him when he was very young. When I was at McLaren, my father tried to help him get into Formula 1.”

de Vries currently serves as Mercedes’ reserve driver, and replaced Hamilton earlier this year in the French Grand Prix for an FP1 session. Hamilton considers him a valuable asset to the team: “He is really valuable to our team, and he does a lot for us in the simulator and he is always positive. I was so happy to hear that he got the chance to drive a GP weekend. He deserves a place in Formula 1 in my opinion.”

Nyck de Vries has won both the 2019 Formula 2 championship, as well as Formula E in 2020-21, so his credentials are under no doubt, but unfortunately, nothing has opened for him yet. Williams also seem to be giving Latifi a chance, so de Vries’ wait for an F1 seat may go on.

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Also Read: “Horrible situation” – Formula E racer finds similarities in Lewis Hamilton and the late Ayrton Senna’s grievances following safety car rule enforcement at Monza

Also Read: “What a fantastic job,” Lewis Hamilton comes up with heartfelt message for Nyck De Vries on super F1 debut