Nyck de Vries has certainly endured a challenging couple of days, with the Dutchman having been heavily impacted by the current flooding in the Emilia-Romagna region.
It was announced by Formula 1 on Wednesday afternoon that the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix had been cancelled, in response to the current weather conditions battering the region.
For several weeks, Emilia-Romagna has faced torrential rainfall, flooding and landslides, all of which have been present this week.
Cancelling the Grand Prix was the only safe option, with parts of the paddock having been knee-deep in flood water.
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Several teams and F1 personnel have faced a scary few days, with some having become stuck in their hotels due to the flooding.
De Vries was one of the people caught up in the chaos, whilst he was heading to AlphaTauri’s base in Faenza.
Due to the flooding and the rainfall, De Vries couldn’t reach the factory nor his hotel, with him instead having ended up a hotel in the middle of a village.
“It’s raining intense, Faenza is already flooded and I am unable to get to my hotel,” De Vries said via Instagram.
The village in question just so happened to be where McLaren had also gotten stuck, with the Woking-based team’s front jackman having kindly offered his room to De Vries, due to the hotel having been full.
The hotel where De Vries and McLaren had found themselves incredibly became an emergency shelter, for those who had no choice but to escape their homes.
“Fortunately McLaren got stranded there earlier and their front jack Frazer was kind enough to give me his room”, he said.
“The following morning, the hotel lobby turned into an emergency shelter for people who were forced to escape their homes during the night.”
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Following the announcement of the Grand Prix being cancelled, De Vries opted to drive home; however, with the motorway having been blocked, he was forced to go through the mountains, a journey that certainly wouldn’t have been easy!
“After an adventurous drive through the mountains, thanks to the help from local people and authorities in different villages, I finally got home safely,” De Vries revealed.
“Thank you to every single person who has been kind enough to help me. It was truly heartwarming to see so many look out for each other. My thoughts are with those who continue to be affected by this tragedy.”