After an impressive performance for Williams in Monza last season, Nyck de Vries managed to secure a contract with AlphaTauri. We are now seven Grands Prix into the season, and the Dutchman has yet to score any points. A difficult double header in Baku and Miami even sparked rumors about De Vries' future. The storm has subsided since then, but the driver from Sneek is still facing challenges.
MaximumGPnews had an exclusive interview with analyst Peter Windsor regarding the performances of the AlphaTauri driver. "I am quite confident that Nyck de Vries can turn the situation around," Windsor opens positively about the Dutchman's future prospects. "He has been active in motorsport for a long time, not in Formula 1 of course, but he has experience in motorsport. He is a strong guy, and he has a lot of confidence in his own abilities. If he didn't, he wouldn't be in Formula 1. When you have these ingredients, you can turn the situation around."
Windsor believes that De Vries is mainly struggling with high expectations. "I think there may have been too much hype after his performance in Monza. I already said back then that there was too much hype," Windsor points out, referring to the confidence expressed by Franz Tost and Helmut Marko during the winter period. "I think he may have overestimated himself because of that. He needs to become more of a workhorse, someone who delivers results, while Yuki Tsunoda is the fast and young driver for the future. I think AlphaTauri sees De Vries as the solid driver who always scores points when the car is fast enough. Tsunoda may be slightly faster but pushes the limits more and may make more mistakes. So that's what Nyck should avoid: making mistakes. That's actually the main reason why they hired him."
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De Vries in action in Miami, where he tapped Lando Norris from behind at the start after a good qualifying.
According to Windsor, the fact that De Vries is often slower than the Japanese driver is not a big issue. "He was hired to be a solid driver, so it's not good that he's making so many mistakes now. He needs to go back to basics to avoid these kinds of errors," said the former team manager. "This is probably a consequence of him not having raced much in his career since his testing days with McLaren. Of course, he has done Formula E, but that's quite different. Hitting another driver from behind, that's inexcusable - that's more like something Lance Stroll would do. That's not good, and he really needs to address it because there is no excuse for it."
So the fact that De Vries mostly lags behind the Japanese in terms of speed is not such a problem, according to Windsor. "He was hired to be a solid driver, so it is not good that he is making so many mistakes now. He needs to go back to basics to avoid these kinds of mistakes," said the former team manager. "This is probably a consequence of him not having raced so much in his career, ever since testing at McLaren. Of course he has done Formula E, but that is very different. It's inexcusable to hit another driver from behind, that's something Lance Stroll would do. It's bad and he really needs to look at that, because there is no excuse for it."
Windsor fears that De Vries's focus is too much on his physical fitness, causing him to neglect working on his racing skills. "He needs to address that (the fact that he's making too many mistakes, ed.), but without losing any of his potential speed. That's the problem with drivers who rely on their reflexes and are driven not so much by ego but by adrenaline and possibly by many sessions in the gym, rather than working on the fundamental aspects that make you a better driver. This leads to this type of driver making lots of mistakes in high-pressure situations where there is a lot of adrenaline. So Nyck needs to ensure that he gets the fundamentals right."
Tsunoda has already scored two points, while De Vries has only recorded zero scores so far. Windsor is surprised that De Vries was already rated so highly before the season. "I have no idea," Windsor responds when asked how much time the 28-year-old driver has left to prove himself. "Of course, Red Bull is not exactly known for being tolerant when a driver does not perform at the level they desire. It is incomprehensible if there is anyone who genuinely thought Nyck de Vries would be faster than Yuki Tsunoda, but anyone who made the decision to hire Nyck - Franz Tost most likely included - did so with the idea that we have lost some good people, so we need a good, solid driver in the other car who makes no mistakes, if we keep Yuki. That is what Nyck needs to deliver," Windsor emphasizes.