Nyck de Vries excited for first full season in Formula 1 in 2023 with AlphaTauri
- Planet Sport writer
- 13 February 2023
With his debut in Formula 1 already behind him, Nyck de Vries is eager to show what he can do in his first full season in Formula 1 with AlphaTauri.
De Vries drove his first F1 race at Monza after stepping in for Alex Albon at Williams in the 2022 season.
Not only did he score points in an impressive debut, he also effectively ended Nicholas Latifi's career in the sport by far outperforming the relative veteran.
"First of all, to get the opportunity to live my dream, but equally to be very motivated to perform and to deliver," he told PitPass.
"I think partly because my journey has been slightly unusual and longer, I'm even more grateful for the opportunity," he added, "more motivated to grab it, and hungrier to show what I'm worth."
Despite impressing with Williams and Laftifi being axed by the team, De Vries' first F1 campaign will be with AlphaTauri, who snapped him up to replace Pierre Gasly.
De Vries teams up with Yuki Tsunoda, who is has already been told he needs to up his performances, and has a great opportunity to make his mark on the team.
"It seemed like everyone was very excited about my arrival and we certainly did everything we could to integrate me as quickly as possible," he said.
"I spent time with different engineering departments, with different people within the team, and we've also done a little bit more specific work on preferences, likings, on all sorts of things.
"I feel like we did a good job of using the time to welcome and integrate me into the team but at the same time, we have started to look at gaps where there is room for improvement which we needed to highlight.
"We've used our time well in terms of the physical aspect and we've been pushing really hard. I'm just basically enjoying the ride and I'm very excited to start our season."