What Monza Taught Us About Nyck De Vries' Overdue F1 Arrival

When Nyck de Vries arrived in Monza last week, he wouldn't have anticipated he would end up taking part in his first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix by the end of the weekend.

An unfortunate illness for Alex Albon at Williams meant the team required a stand-in last minute on Saturday morning, and de Vries was preferred to reserve driver Jack Aitken.

His weekend turned out to be one of the most impressive in recent F1 memory, and he was rightly voted "Driver of the Day". De Vries has ramped up the pressure on underperforming Williams regular Nicholas Latifi.

Italian F1 GP: Nyck de Vries stars on F1 debut

Nyck de Vries has been banging on the door of F1 for quite some time now. As far back as 2010, he was signed as a young driver at McLaren, and he took several junior series crowns before winning the Formula 2 championship in 2019.

A pivot to Formula E came that year and, last year, he was crowned the world champion in the all-electric single seater as a driver for Mercedes.

Is this one of the craziest ends to a motorsport season ever? 😵@nyckdevries successfully navigated his way to be crowned champion of Season 7! 🏆#ABBFormulaE #Motorsport #Racing pic.twitter.com/j1peWzQXhT

— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) August 11, 2022

He has been heavily linked with a move to Formula 1 for years now, and entered into a new role as reserve driver for Mercedes this year. He drove in free practice for Williams at Spain, for Mercedes at France, and as recently as the Friday of Monza drove for Aston Martin in FP1.

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When Alex Albon fell ill midway through the Italian GP weekend, de Vries was the somewhat surprising choice to replace him at Williams, given he is not the team's official reserve driver, but he was a welcome addition to the grid nonetheless.

The team have struggled this season. Though Albon has impressed to bring home points on three occasions, his teammate Nicholas Latifi has not been delivering in the same way, and interest was high in how de Vries' performance would compare to the Canadian's at Monza.

To say de Vries aced the audition would be underselling it. It's no secret in F1 spheres that Latifi's seat is under threat for 2023, and de Vries has cemented his position as the prime contender to take it.

Not only did he outqualify Latifi after only one practice session, he stayed in the mix with the likes of Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris for the early stages of the race, and finished a sensational P9 for two points on his F1 debut.

It was clear the race took its toll on de Vries physically, who struggled to exit his car at the chequered flag.

Somebody help that man! @nyckdevries was elated but also exhausted after Sunday's race 😀😰#ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/XVaAonAbz3

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 11, 2022

It was a sensational F1 bow for de Vries, who not only increased Williams' points tally by 50%, but moved ahead of Latifi in the championship standings after just one race with the team.

All this on a weekend where he drove two different cars, after his practice outing with Aston Martin on Friday.

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The Dutchman was clearly emotional after the race. At 27-years-old, his first F1 race has been a long time coming, and the weight of his achievement was not lost on him as he spoke to Sky.

Nyck de Vries reacts to finishing ninth on his Formula 1 debut after stepping in for Alex Albon. pic.twitter.com/R7a2uAj0SB

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 11, 2022

For Latifi, however, who has only scored seven points in his entire near-three year Formula 1 career, the weekend was damning. He is an F2 runner-up, and has had some excellent drives, so we mustn't get carried away in tearing him apart as a driver. He proved in the past that he was worthy of his place in F1 - but that time may be coming to a close.

For Nyck de Vries to enter the team and beat him so comprehensively on the first go, at a track where Williams expected to do well, is a sad indictment of Latifi's form, and may be the final straw in sealing his F1 fate.

There have been many drivers who F1 has simply passed by in recent seasons. The likes of Antonio Felix da Costa, Sam Bird, Callum Ilott, and co. all deserved shots at the big time but could never work their way into Formula 1. For a long time, it felt as though Nyck de Vries would go the same way.

But De Vries will now feel good about his chances of taking a seat for 2023. At 27, his F1 debut was a long-time coming - but he proved himself full worth for his place on Sunday afternoon.

Wrapping up from the Italian Grand Prix

• Driver of the day: For all the reasons detailed above, it has to be Nyck de Vries, on a special F1 bow for the Dutchman. Special mention to Lando Norris, who continues to work wonders in the McLaren, and the ever-dominant Max Verstappen.
• Day to forget: The FIA's Race Control made a critical error in letting a recovery vehicle reverse against traffic on track in the final laps. Driver safety has to be paramount, and they were lucky there was not a serious incident.
• The big question ahead of round #17: Who will reign supreme on F1's return to Singapore? One of the more unique tracks on the calendar, the bumpy, hot, and humid Singapore track is an endurance test - it's hard to predict which cars it will suit, but it could present an opportunity for Ferrari.

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