Italian GP: Nyck de Vries reflects on whirlwind Saturday and impressive qualifying showing

Nyck de Vries was rightly delighted with his showing in qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix with him stepping into the Williams at short notice and beating Nicholas Latifi.

The Dutchman had been scheduled to take part in events around the paddock at Monza this weekend, having driven in FP1 for Aston Martin on Friday.

However, on Saturday morning, his plans for the weekend totally changed as it was confirmed that Alex Albon was suffering from appendicitis, and that the Dutchman would be replacing him at the wheel of the Williams.

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De Vries had FP3 to get his eye in, then, with him pushing the car hard before qualifying and then came his first-ever qualy session in the sport, something that he will likely remember for a long time for all the right reasons.

Indeed, he’d get his Williams into Q2, beating team-mate Nicholas Latifi in the process – which is a statement – and he’ll start the Grand Prix on Sunday in P8, with several drivers in front of him in qualifying dropping down the grid thanks to penalties related to component changes.

The former FE and F2 champion felt he could have done even better on Saturday, though:

“Yeah, that does make me smile a little bit,” said de Vries when asked about a top ten start. “Even though I’m hard on myself and think I could have done a better job, but that is great.”

He was also asked about feeling any pressure to impress, given he is linked with replacing Latifi at Williams for 2023:

“Honestly… of course you can think like that [that it is a chance at the right time] and you could see it as even more added pressure, because it’s an opportunity, or the opportunity,” de Vries admitted.

“But I think my own pressure is beyond anything.”

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