Why 'fighter' Nyck de Vries deserves our support right now
Column
AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries is currently fighting to keep his Formula 1 career alive. The Dutchman is under pressure and needs a good result soon to keep his seat with the Italian team. It is not the first time he has had to fight for his place, he reveals to GPblog and others.
His road to Formula 1 was not a simple one. The Dutchman had no major backer behind him nor a former driver to guide him. He only had his performance on the track to convince others. De Vries also had to take out loans to pay for his plane tickets and sometimes hung on the phone with potential sponsors and teams more than he had time to get behind the wheel.
His hard work was finally rewarded in 2022 when he was allowed to fill in at Williams and finished in the points at Monza. Years of hard work saw him rewarded. Years of doubts about his future were extinguished for a second; he had scored points in Formula 1. Very briefly calming all the emotions down together with his father on the beach. After five minutes, the phone was on silent. It would only get nicer from here, right?
Cold fair
De Vries was offered a seat at AlphaTauri by none other than Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, although, again, he had to make the call himself. Expectations were high. The former Formula E and Formula 2 world champion could take the Italian racing stable in tow, they thought. But the car proved to be very tough, and teammate Yuki Tsunoda blossomed after years of living in Pierre Gasly's shadow.
Nine Grands Prix later, De Vries does not know whether he will still be allowed to drive in Formula 1 in a few weeks' time. Marko already spoke out loud that it might have been a mistake to give the Dutchman a chance in the premier class of motorsport. But De Vries is not giving up. "As a driver, you fight your whole life just to survive. At multiple times you are in different battles." The AlphaTauri driver has had to fight all his life to get where he is today: "Sometimes it was simply to keep my racing career alive. At one point it was close, or I was now at home cutting the grass instead of driving races."
Chasing dreams
One thing we know for sure, even now, De Vries will not give up."I take the sport, my passion, very seriously. I'm not here to have fun." Let's all cheer a little harder for Nyck de Vries this weekend, as this is someone who has struggled all his life to get here. He had no big moneymaker or mentor beside him. No well-known name brought him into the picture. De Vries' story is about a boy from Friesland who has given everything to make his dream come true. He deserves it.