"You shouldn’t look at the age"- Nyck De Vries 'belongs in Formula 1,' claims renowned Dutch driver

Dutch racing driver Tom Coronel believes that Nyck De Vries' glorious F1 debut at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix last weekend proves that the 27-year-old was "made to race". Coronel emphasized that while his compatriot has plenty of offers on the table, the opportunity to officially race in F1 would trump all other forms of competitive racing.

Speaking to Viaplay, Coronel said:

“This guy was made to race. He has devoted his whole life to it. And he will continue to do so for the rest of his life. He already has very good deals in his pocket for next year. But I’m sure there’s an option in there that says, ‘if I get a Formula 1 seat…’”

“You shouldn’t look at the age. That age is just an extra because of all the experience he brings with him. As a result, he makes fewer mistakes. All the critics have been shouting for years that he couldn’t do this. But you have to remember the 2018 Formula 2 Championship. George Russell was champion, Lando Norris was second, Alexander Albon third, and De Vries fourth. In the last few races, he had engine problems. Otherwise, he would have easily finished second in that championship. Nyck just belongs in Formula 1.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also praised the young Dutchman for his outing in Monza. He emphasized that nobody else could have "done a better job" in the situation that Nyck De Vries was put in. In a post-race media interaction, Wolff said:

“I like him. He is just a good young man. He’s not only fast and has shown that in the junior categories, but he is also intelligent and a good team player, that is why he deserved it here. I don’t think that anyone else could have possibly done a better job in what he did. You are in an Aston Martin, you are driving around with a rake and then you are being drafted in at the last minute in a different car, you are beating your team-mate by quite a margin, you are starting eighth and you finish ninth.”

Nyck De Vries, in his very first outing in Monza, out-qualified and out-performed his Williams teammate Nicholas Latifi to score his first championship points in F1 with a P9 finish at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.

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George Russell describes Nyck De Vries' 2022 F1 Italian GP outing as "spectacular"

George Russell, who started his career at Williams, was impressed by Nyck De Vries' drive at the 2022 F1 Italian GP. Russell confessed that it was potentially a bigger challenge for the Dutchman, who drove the Aston Martin in FP1 on Friday, before stepping into the Williams for qualifying the very next day.

As reported by PlanetF1, the Briton said:

“I think probably tougher for him, to be honest, than it was for me. I was obviously a full-time race driver then and equally as well for him, jumping from Aston Martin on Friday into a Williams… it’s a different car, the seating position is different.”

“I remember when I was doing testing with Mercedes and Force India at the time and driving F2, it took quite a few laps just to get used to the different feeling of how those cars reacted. As I said, there’s not a lot more to say – to score points on your debut in a Williams, it’s pretty spectacular no doubt.”

Last weekend, Nyck De Vries became the 67th driver to score a championship point in F1 and was voted "Driver of the Day" at the 2022 Italian GP.