The Race of De Vries | De Vries reprimanded: "Everyone is doing 1:29s, you're doing 1:31 now"

In "The Race of De Vries," MaximumGPnews.com tracks Nyck de Vries' activities during a Grand Prix. We capture the exceptional, remarkable and less remarkable moments that you probably missed during the race. The weekend in Canada was challenging for De Vries. Prayers to the weather gods did not help on Saturday, as the Dutchman had to brave the soaking wet Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The race on Sunday didn't go smoothly either.

De Vries emerged from Barcelona with a positive mindset and seemed to depart for Montreal with a bit more self-confidence. The track in Canada was unfamiliar territory for the 28-year-old. And the conditions during the practice sessions and qualifying didn't exactly help either. The first practice session was halted due to a power outage on the track, and it was raining during the second practice session. The qualifying session was soaking wet. The Dutchman once again had an eventful weekend.

First practice didn't go smoothly: "Don't think it was okay"

Friday afternoon started off sunny for everyone on the track, and De Vries was already in the pit lane, waiting until the lights went out for the first practice session. It was important for the Dutchman to get as many laps in as possible on the unfamiliar circuit. He started his first laps on the medium tires, which could also be important for the strategy on Sunday. De Vries had only just gotten onto the track and was getting some instructions on braking when Pierre Gasly's car stopped. Double yellow flags were waved in Gasly's sector. "We have double yellow flags where Gasly stopped," Pierre Hamelin, De Vries' engineer, reported over the team radio. "Between turns seven and eight," the Frenchman added. "After that, you can go faster again. Charge on and box."

Although yellow at first, the flags later turned red and all drivers were instructed to stay inside for the time being. "Was the constant speed before turn thirteen okay in the end?" De Vries asked, as he was being pushed back into the garage. "We had traffic, so I don't think it was okay," Hamelin replied. The red flag seemed to last forever, because there was a problem due to a power outage on the circuit. The FIA reported that the CCTV safety cameras were not working, and as long as that was the case, the session could not be resumed. De Vries didn't make it back onto the track on Friday morning, which was disadvantageous since he still had a lot of laps to do. It was also a blow for the team because they wanted to adjust the cars to do the long runs in the second practice session.

Weather gods were playing tricks: "There's a lot of wind right now"

To accommodate the drivers, the second practice session on Friday was extended by half an hour. It was still dry, but there was some wind and it was cloudy. Since everyone wanted to get some laps in, the track was busy right from the start of the second practice session. As usual, Hamelin kept his driver well informed about who was in front of and behind De Vries and which drivers were doing a fast lap. "Magnussen is pushing, he's ten seconds behind us, that should be good," the engineer said. "I'm driving towards Sainz, so keep me updated on Magnussen," De Vries said, slowing down to let Magnussen pass. De Vries could finally start his fast lap. It was a successful lap as he was faster than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

It was clear that De Vries was giving his car a hard time, as he bounced over the curbs of the circuit multiple times. Nonetheless, he was making good progress. "You're doing well right now," Hamelin remarked. De Vries had clocked the eighteenth time, while Tsunoda was faster at that point, standing in P13. With a new attempt, the Dutchman moved up to the fifteenth spot, and the difference with the Japanese driver was only forty thousandths. The 28-year-old was going to try again. "Very well done, Nyck. Strat 10 (engine mode, ed.) for the next lap," Hamelin praised De Vries, after he set a faster time. Shortly after, there was a red flag, this time for Nico Hülkenberg's engine failure. De Vries was immediately called back into the pits by his team. Rain was on the way, so AlphaTauri probably was not very pleased with the prospect of losing more practice time.

Nevertheless, there was still an hour to go, and if the red flag was quickly lifted, the session could resume. Esteban Ocon was also in trouble during that session, as his team asked him to stop his car. Meanwhile, the sky above the track was growing darker and darker. De Vries had switched to the soft tires and set the sixteenth time with twenty minutes remaining. For the final stint, the Dutchman switched to the yellow compound. "We'll stay out for now," Hamelin informed, closely monitoring the circuit's rain radars. "There's a lot of wind," De Vries reported, feeling it in the car. "We have a wet track now. Let me know if you want to abort the lap." "No, I can still do another lap," De Vries said, but he quickly changed his mind. "Okay, box, box," he said as the rain intensified and he didn't want to risk anything on his dry tires. He later ventured out with intermediates, but soon returned to the pits.

De Vries had to go faster: "You're driving 1:31"

The third practice session began the same way the second session had ended: wet and cold. The track temperature was around seventeen degrees. De Vries decided to wait and see how things played out before venturing out himself. Other drivers had full wet tires on their cars. After about four minutes, the Dutchman also drove onto the track. Drivers from our little country aren't exactly made of sugar, but the conditions were indeed very wet in Canada. "The tires are gradually getting there (in the right temperature window, ed.)," Hamelin said, indicating that the tires needed some time to reach the optimal temperature before De Vries could push for a fast lap. "Okay, we can go for a push lap, one more time. Alonso thinks the intermediates can handle it, but let's do one more lap," Hamelin relayed.

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Alonso was briefly obstructed by Tsunoda, but De Vries continued to complete his laps. Later in the session, it turned out that he could try the intermediates again. However, he had some difficulty. "Everyone is now doing high 1:29s, and you're doing 1:31," Hamelin informed him. "Yeah, I was creating a gap with Stroll," explained De Vries. "Leclerc is four seconds behind, you can open the gap by four seconds. Maintain your position," replied the engineer. It was challenging to generate tire temperature since the rain persisted and a red flag was raised due to Carlos Sainz's crash. All in all, the third practice session also didn't provide a good lead-up to the qualifying session. The car was still not optimally adjusted. De Vries finished the Saturday morning session in sixteenth place.

Later that Saturday afternoon, the track didn't dry up, indicating that the qualifying session wouldn't be easy either. Guanyu Zhou was the driver who initiated the qualifying session with a problem, resulting in a red flag. De Vries was already on the track but had to abort his run and return to the pits. Once the lights turned green again, almost all drivers were ready to set a time. The conditions seemed slightly drier, with a dry line gradually forming. "Your time is 24.8, others are doing 24.3," said Hamelin, hoping to encourage De Vries since his lap time wasn't good enough to advance to Q2. "We can do cool down, push, cool down. Other people are staying out as well," Hamelin suggested. "If everyone is going for it, then I think we should do the same," De Vries replied. Ultimately, the approach had little effect. De Vries ended up in P18, although he was only about two tenths away from Q2.

Head down and drive: "There's nothing more we can do"

Thanks to his teammate's grid penalty, De Vries started in P17. The 28-year-old survived the chaos of the first corners and managed to safely navigate his car through the opening lap. He stayed close behind Valtteri Bottas and was able to keep the Finn in his sights for a good number of laps. The early virtual safety car, caused by Logan Sargeant's breakdown, was certainly favorable as it brought De Vries closer to Bottas. The gap had grown to a second. "The field is very close together," Hamelin said, letting De Vries know that he couldn't relax because he was chasing Bottas, with Zhou right behind him. The Dutchman was essentially caught in an Alfa Romeo sandwich. Shortly after, many drivers pitted due to the safety car deployed for George Russell's crash. By that time, carbon debris had been scattered all over the track.

However, De Vries had already entered the pits just before that, so he didn't benefit from a free pit stop. That was quite disappointing. "Safety car, safety car." "Ah!" said De Vries. "Yes, I know," replied Hamelin, who was probably just as frustrated. "Russell has a lot of damage; we're catching up to him," the engineer said, as Russell was still on the track at that time. Once the carbon debris was cleared, the race could resume. "There's nothing more we can do about it now. Let's focus on the race; there are still many laps to go," Hamelin said. De Vries' stint on the hard tires started favorably as he was able to gain a couple of positions on the grid after his pit stop, but only two. Given AlphaTauri's strategy, they were essentially waiting for an incident, such as a safety car or a red flag.

Hamelin gives De Vries pep talk: "Let's take that DRS as fast as possible!"

De Vries had found his pace on the hard tires. The 28-year-old had been wedged between Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly for a while, but the gap to both drivers remained around four tenths. "We still have some margin on braking into turn six," Hamelin told him, trying to help him find some extra time to overtake the German ahead. However, that didn't happen as fast as his engineer had hoped. "Okay, he's still one second ahead of you. Let's take that DRS as fast as possible!" the Frenchman said over the team radio. However, there was another driver he had to consider, and that was Magnussen. De Vries attempted to overtake the Dane on the inside but failed. Both drivers went off track. "Nyck, be careful. The Haas is right behind you," Hamelin said before De Vries reversed and rejoined the track. He had to wait until all the other drivers had passed, resulting in a significant loss of time.

"How are the tires now?" Hamelin asked. "Check my data," De Vries replied shortly. "We'll stay out for now, I'll keep you updated," said the AlphaTauri engineer. The engine behind him at that point in the race was Magnussen himself, who had pitted. De Vries had a gap of about forty seconds to the next driver, which was Zhou in P17. Since it made no sense for the AlphaTauri driver to pit, he could only stay out on the hard tires and hope that something would happen to eliminate that forty-second gap. Magnussen was closing in on the medium tires, so to make matters even worse, there was a good chance he would be overtaken by the Haas driver as well. "There's no point in stopping now, we'll wait and see if something happens," Hamelin concluded, realizing that it would be virtually impossible for De Vries to properly get back into the race.

Not a good race in Montreal: "It was a very tough day for us"

Towards the final stages of the race, nothing had really changed. "We're racing the same race as Magnussen, so try to stay close to him on the DRS," De Vries was informed. However, Magnussen quickly disappeared from sight, and the gap widened to about three seconds. "Just four more laps," Hamelin tried to keep the spirits up. In those four laps, De Vries couldn't do much, of course. All in all, it was a challenging day in Montreal. "Albon is P7, so it's a very tough day for us," Hamelin said after De Vries crossed the finish line in last place. "How was the pace with the hard tires and the fronts?" the 28-year-old asked. "Good, that was good," replied Hamelin. With that, the engineer-driver duo concluded the Canadian Grand Prix. De Vries was disappointed afterward. It was indeed a tough day for AlphaTauri, as Tsunoda also couldn't score any points. De Vries couldn't make an impression in Montreal, so he will do everything he can to make an impact in Austria.