Wolff: Lauda would take off his hat for Nick de Vries

After Nick de Vries’ successful debut in the Italian Grand Prix, when he finished 9th in a far from the fastest Williams car and earned a few points, several teams are showing interest in the Dutch Mercedes reservist.

But his performance also impressed Toto Wolff, his immediate supervisor, as Nick will continue to work with the Stuttgart Group’s factory team until the end of 2022, working on a simulator and acting as reserve driver.

In honor of Nick’s performance, Wolff found special words for this: “I don’t think anyone could have done it better than him. I think Niki Lauda would take his hat off for a performance like that.

I like Nick, he is not only a fast racer, which he proved in the youth categories, but also a very smart person and a good team player. That’s why it deserves such praise.”

During the Italian race weekend, De Vries managed to get behind the wheel of two teams’ cars: on Friday he had his first practice with Aston Martin, and on Saturday morning he was unexpectedly invited to Williams to replace the ailing Alex Albon.

“At first he drove an Aston Martin, but at the last minute he was ordered to drive a completely different car,” Wolff continued. “Nick was immediately ahead of his partner, started eighth (after penalties from other riders) and finished ninth!”

It is worth adding that Nick de Vries is not only last year’s Formula E champion, where he played for the Mercedes team, but also managed to prove himself in other series. If for some reason he doesn’t make it to F1 next year, he will likely play in the WEC for Toyota. The new Maserati team would also be willing to trust him to drive one of their Formula E race cars.

But still, most likely, in 2023 we will see De Vries in one of the Formula 1 teams, because now, according to him, negotiations are underway with Williams, Alpine and AlphaTauri, although, as Nick admitted, the choice does not depend on him.