Nyck de Vries is doing a 'really good job' for AlphaTauri according to Franz Tost

Franz Tost feels Nyck de Vries is a strong addition to their driver lineup for the 2023 season, with his experience as a development driver with many teams on the grid.

The AlphaTauri team principal hopes the team can provide him with a car where he delivers.

Speaking to Autosport ahead of the preseason test in Bahrain, Tost said:

“Nyck de Vries is 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. And 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.”

The Austrian team principal believes that Nyck de Vries brings a lot of experience as a driver into the team, making him an important asset compared to young drivers.

Unlike most rookies who joined AlphaTauri, Tost revealed that the Dutch driver had a lot of feedback on the car when he tested it in Abu Dhabi. His experience across the grid, having simulated and tested many of the cars as a Mercedes reserve, makes him a unique addition to the team according to the Red Bull sister team principal.

Tost revealed:

“And I think that 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."

"Because this was a wake-up call for the engineers. And I hope that we can provide him with a car which performs in the way he likes it.”

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Franz Tost admires the work ethic and revealed Nyck de Vries had given the engineers a long ‘to-do’ list over the winter

Franz Tost revealed Nyck de Vries gave a large amount of feedback after his test in Abu Dhabi to the engineers. The Austrian team principal admired the commitment and feedback of the Dutch driver and expects a unique contribution in the form of valuable feedback after the preseason test.

Tost revealed the post-test debrief after Abu Dhabi, saying:

“A long to-do list. I liked it! And 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’.”

Outlining his expectations from Nyck de Vries after the preseason test, Tost said:

“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.”

Clearly impressed with the former FE champion's work ethic and attitude, Tost believes he is a valuable addition to their team. While the Dutch driver is 28 years of age, he will be the oldest rookie on the F1 grid in 2023.

His F1 debut was with Williams where he clinched 9th place at the 2022 F1 Italian GP in Monza, when he was substituting for an unwell Alex Albon. The result was the final approval of his merit to be on the F1 grid, helping him secure an F1 drive on the 2023 grid.