F1 | Spanish GP | De Vries unlikely to get another outing for Williams
Nyck De Vries looks unlikely to get another FP1 outing for Williams after the team’s head of vehicle development, Dave Robson, confirmed that Friday’s opening Practice session was the Dutchman’s only go.
Nyck De Vries is not expected to have another free practice appearance for Williams, despite being quicker than regular driver Nicholas Latifi.
The 2020-21 Formula E World champion got the call up from Williams three days before the session began, throwing him in at the deep end in Barcelona as his only form of preparation was a day in Williams simulator.
Despite the handicap of not knowing the car beforehand, De Vries put in a good showing, outpacing Latifi by just under a tenth to finish the session 18th fastest.
But shortly after his Friday outing, De Vries said in a media session in which MotorLAT was in attendance that he was unsure when he would get another go in an F1 car.
“I don’t know. At this point, I just really kinda focused on the day, the moment, and I tried to enjoy it as well because I think in life, we always forget to enjoy the moment. I really tried to do that, and I am happy with my performance, although I am very critical as well, and I think there was much more in it today, taking everything in consideration technically but also when we went out (we) caught traffic in the last sector.”
“I don’t want to have any excuses I just want to say that I always want to do better, but at the same time, I did enjoy the experience and yeah (I am) happy that I got a go.”
If De Vries is to get another go in a Formula 1 car, it isn’t likely to be in a Williams, as Dave Robson indicated in the FIA technical press conference yesterday that there were no plans for him to jump back into a car.
“No, not at the moment. So that was his opportunity in FP1. One of the two P1 sessions, we have to give up by regulation to a young driver. That was his one go.”
Nevertheless, Robson was impressed with the Dutchman’s efforts stating that he did exactly what the team needed him to do.
“He got on extremely well. His programme was the engineering programme that Alex would have done had he been in the car. He executed it really well. The way we set the tests up, his car was the baseline for the new components that were on Nicholas Latifi’s car. He did exactly what we needed him to do.”
