Nyck de Vries admitted his first practice run for Williams in the Spanish Grand Prix was the most nervous he’d been in his last two years of racing.
The reigning Formula E and 2019 Formula 2 champion was given an opportunity to drive Alexander Albon’s Williams FW44 in the first hour of practice at the Circuit de Catalunya. He completed 28 laps in the session, finishing 18th in the times sheets ahead of Williams race driver Nicholas Latifi.
It was the first time De Vries had participated in a grand prix session in his career, having tested with Mercedes twice previously. The 27-year-old admitted he had nervously anticipated his first run in a practice session.
“I’m normally not that nervous for a free practice session!” De Vries admitted in response to a question from RaceFans. “I will admit I haven’t been so nervous then I was today in the past two years.
“Obviously I’m racing and fighting for race wins and championships. But making your debut in a Formula 1 weekend is very special and unique.
“I definitely felt some pressure, but once you’re in the car and you close your visor and start the engine, you just forget everything else. You stick to what you know and actually, that’s where I’m comfortable.”
Despite a productive session where he experienced no technical problems, made no notable mistakes and ended the session quicker than Latifi, De Vries described his performance as only “okay”.
“I’m never satisfied,” he said. “It’s never good enough. But no, don’t get me wrong. I was very pleased with my job.
“I just know where we are with both cars, I know that I went out very early on the C3 [softs] and I had quite a lot of traffic from Valtteri [Bottas] in sector three, so I just felt like there was more in there. And also knowing what we have on both sides. Everyone is obviously bringing upgrades, but I think there was more to come. But from my personal side, I think it was okay.”
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