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AlphaTauri have announced that Nyck de Vries will be joining them from next season, replacing the departing Pierre Gasly, whose move to Alpine was confirmed slightly earlier.
The Dutchman will join up with Yuki Tsunoda at the Red Bull junior team for the 2023 season, after having impressed during his unexpected super-sub appearance for Williams earlier this year.
De Vries is the 2019 Formula 2 champion and 2020-21 Formula E champion, and will now finally get his first full-time seat in F1.
“I’m extremely excited to be joining Scuderia AlphaTauri for 2023 and I want to thank both Red Bull and the team for giving me the opportunity to drive in F1.
“After Formula 2, I took a slightly different path with motorsport, but F1 has always been my dream and I’m grateful to be able to fulfil it.”
He has waited a long time in the wings – Mercedes’ reserve driver for the last two seasons – and will have turned 28 by the curtain-raiser in Bahrain next year.
His impressive performance at the Italian Grand Prix drew more attention to the former Formula E champion at just the right time.
The Alpine/Oscar Piastri saga had opened up the driver market and, with none of the Red Bull driver academy currently making a good enough claim for promotion, De Vries became Chief Advisor Helmut Marko’s first choice for AlphaTauri should Gasly leave the team.
With the Frenchman’s move to Alpine confirmed, De Vries was immediately announced as his replacement.
The race that changed it all
De Vries was a late replacement for the unwell Alex Albon in Monza. He had, in fact, made an FP1 appearance for Aston Martin earlier in the weekend – his third of the season after previously driving for both Williams and Mercedes.
When Albon was diagnosed with appendicitis, Williams were forced to parachute De Vries in at the last minute.
But the Dutchman surprised and impressed in equal measure, comfortably outqualifying teammate Nicholas Latifi and then matching the team’s best result of the season after a mature drive to ninth place.
De Vries thinks his varied experiences this year should stand him in good stead for 2023.
“I’ve had a lot of chances to experience the 2022 car this year and I think that has put me in a great position for the upcoming season, I hope this has helped to prepare me for what is to come.”
Featured Image Credit: Antonin Vincent / DPPI
