Nyck de Vries, who impressed many in the Formula 1 paddock with his points-scoring one-off performance for Williams in the Italian Grand Prix, has been handed a full-time drive for next season.
The 27-year-old who has previously been backed by McLaren and Mercedes will drive for Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri.
De Vries won the Formula E world championship last year and was Formula 2 champion in 2019. He made his grand prix debut in September at the Italian Grand Prix, taking over Alexander Albon car on Saturday after the team’s regular was hospitalised with appendicitis. De Vries finished eighth, equalling Williams’ best result of the season.
AlphaTauri initially announced Gasly would remain alongside Yuki Tsunoda in its line-up for 2023. However Red Bull has decided to release Gasly, whose hopes of returning to the top team were dashed when Sergio Perez signed a new deal with them earlier this year. Gasly will therefore join Alpine next year, leaving a vacancy at his current team.
De Vries has the rare benefit of having driven for three different F1 teams this year. On the same weekend he made his race outing for Williams at Monza he also drove for Aston Martin in first practice. He also appeared for Mercedes in practice at the French Grand Prix, driving Lewis Hamilton’s car.
AlphaTauri’s hiring of De Vries’ appointment means another F2 champions will race be on the grid next year. McLaren has hired Oscar Piastri to drive for them in 2023. This year’s F2 champion, Felipe Drugovich, has joined Aston Martin’s driver development programme.
This article will be updated
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 F1 season
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…