AlphaTauri Team Chief Gushes Over Nyck de Vries - "Really Good Asset For Us"
AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has gushed about new driver Nyck de Vries suring the first day of pre-season testing.
De Vries had a remarkable debut in F1 when he stepped in for Alex Albon at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, but with Mercedes ruling out a future drive for him, AlphaTauri quickly secured him as a replacement for Pierre Gasly.
Tost stated that he recognised the potential of signing the Dutchman as early as the post-season test last year. As De Vries is set to make his debut with the team, Tost's excitement about the prospect is clear. Tost explained during the testing:
"Our engineers got good technical feedback from his side, especially after the Abu Dhabi test where he did a lot of laps, and where he, fortunately, complained a lot about the car.
"This was a wake-up call for the engineers. He had a long to-do list. I liked it! It was so funny, because the engineers wanted to argue that our solutions are good, and I always said to them, 'Look where we are in the Constructors' Championship.'
"He's doing a really good job. He is very experienced, you can see and feel that he is 28 years old, and that he won a lot of races and championships.
The team chief continued:
"I think that he will be able to adapt to F1 immediately. I expect him to perform well from the first qualifying onwards.
"Of course, always when a new driver is coming, if it's not a young driver coming from a lower series, he brings in some input, some technical ideas. And with Nyck we were lucky that last year he was in contact with many teams and many cars.
"His professional attitude, his discipline, his feedback also regarding the simulator. Ideas for changing working methods. And I expect a lot of input also after this test here from his side.
"He should not feel like a rookie. Because Nyck is, as I mentioned before, very experienced. He won races in every category, he won championships. And he is a really good asset for us."