Nyck de Vries admits that he isn't quite up to speed in Formula 1 yet
Nyck de Vries
AlphaTauri's rookie Formula 1 driver Nyck de Vries says that he has not adapted to Formula 1 as quickly as he would have liked and is now under pressure to catch up.
De Vries arrived at AlphaTauri amid much fanfare as a much-hyped driver but his performances have left a lot to be desired so far this season.
Hopes were high after he was in with a shot of getting points in his debut Formula 1 race before he fell away to finish 14th, still his b best finish so far this season.
To make matters worse, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda - who is under plenty of pressure himself - has shown a lot more pace and has out-qualified De Vries in every race so far.
I do see good progress in the last two weekends," de Vries told the Dutch publication Formule 1.
"If you're a bit behind as we are now, sometimes it all just has to fall into place. And it's not always evident that it's going well.
"That's just inherent to Formula 1 because of the large platform it is," said de Vries. "Everyone watches, everyone likes it. But it's fine - it is everyone's right and I respect it.
"You can't please everyone - you have fans and non-fans. But I believe that with time it will come our way and the team and I are working very hard together on that.
"Pressure is always there in this world," said de Vries. "As a driver, in whatever category, you're always fighting to survive.
"The demand for places in motorsport is simply much greater than the supply, so there's always pressure. But it's really no different than in other years."
