Nick de Vries could have missed the Monza stage in 2022

Nick de Vries made his Formula 1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2022. The driver replaced an ailing Alex Albon at Williams, drove a brilliant race and was eventually signed by AlphaTauri for 2023. Nick said this debut had not could take place, as he was offered to compete in the FIA ​​WEC round in Fuji that same weekend.

Nick de Vries: “There was a WEC round in Fuji that weekend and I had the chance to race as part of a team fighting for the win. I really wanted to go to Fuji because it was a chance to race when I didn’t have to start at Monza.

I had commitments to take part in Friday practice with Aston Martin, so I decided it was better to fulfill them and go to Monza. In the end, instead of racing in Japan, I had the first practice session with Aston Martin, which was also great.

On Friday night I was as relaxed as possible since my race weekend was over – I worked out practice and relaxed. On Saturday morning I arrived at the track, because at 10 or 10:30 am I had a meeting with the Paddock Club guests.

Hardly anyone came, so instead of talking and answering questions, I just had a cappuccino in the company of several guests. At that point, James Vowles called me and said, “Can you come to the Mercedes office? There is a chance that you will play for Williams.

I didn’t really understand James and thought he was talking about next season prospects. I just didn’t understand we were talking about this weekend. After Mercedes I went to Williams and realized what the problem was. Unfortunately, Alex was taken to the hospital overnight due to a bout of appendicitis.

I was still not sure whether I would participate in the race or not, but after 20 minutes the briefing for the third practice started and it became clear to me that I had to spend the remaining sessions of the weekend. From that moment on, I practically did not leave the office of engineers and boxes.