For someone who is currently a Formula 1 reserve driver, Nyck de Vries has been seen on-track an awful lot in 2022, with his time amongst the field set to extend this weekend at the Mexican Grand Prix.
The Mercedes reserve driver will replace George Russell in FP1 at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend, completing the Germans mandatory two young driver sessions.
De Vries has astonishingly driven for three teams in FP1 this season, namely Mercedes, Williams, and Aston Martin.
He did, of course, also race for Williams at the Italian Grand Prix, after replacing Alex Albon due to the Thai driver being ruled out with appendicitis.
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That weekend ultimately gave the Dutchman a career in Formula 1, with his ninth-place finish in the race being enough to tempt AlphaTauri to sign the Season Seven Formula E World Champion.
It was announced ahead of FP3 at the Japanese Grand Prix that De Vries would be taking Pierre Gasly’s place at the Faenza-based team, meaning he’ll be leaving the Mercedes family to join Red Bull’s.
Nevertheless, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is still happy to use the Dutch driver in FP1, with the Austrian “excited” for De Vries to be back behind the wheel.
“Nyck will be replacing George in FP1 this weekend as part of the young driver session allocation,” confirmed Wolff.
“We are excited to see him back in the W13 and seeing how he performs.”
Mercedes have just three races remaining in 2022 to finally claim a victory, something they need to do to ensure they extend their streak of having claimed at least one win every season since 2012.
Should they fail to do this, then it’d be an additional blow to the Silver Arrows, who are already planning their comeback to the front for next season.
Last weekend’s United States Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton lead the closing stages, before losing out to Max Verstappen with just six laps remaining.
Wolff is hopeful that his team can take their Circuit of the Americas form into this weekend, with the team being “cautiously optimistic”.
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“We need to keep this momentum going,” added Wolff.
“We’re cautiously optimistic heading to Mexico but the W13 can be unpredictable from track to track, so we’ll have to wait and see.
“It’s always good to be back in Mexico. The fans are fantastic and the atmosphere is spectacular every time we visit. They know how to put on a brilliant show so we’re looking forward to being back in Mexico City.”