Dutch driver Nyck de Vries carried out astonishingly properly upon his Components 1 debut… However the difficulties he had getting out of his automotive after the race present how bodily match F1 drivers should be.
The 27-year-old Dutchman, who discovered himself filling in for a sick Alex Albon at Williams for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza final weekend, put in an awe-inspiring first F1 drive – outqualifying his teammate Nicholas Latifi and ending the race in ninth, scoring factors on his F1 debut.
That’s no imply feat, particularly as he’d solely ever pushed a Williams automotive for a single hour earlier within the 12 months, and had barely any F1 automotive expertise on prime of that… Which is perhaps a bit embarrassing for Latifi (and even Albon).
But it wasn’t all plain crusing for de Vries. After pulling up in parc ferme, the younger gun was so exhausted he wanted assist getting out of his automotive.
“Can somebody assist me… I can actually not even elevate my arms anymore,” de Vries was caught saying over the radio to his storage. Fortunately, somebody did come and assist him out. AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly even came visiting to test on him.
WATCH Nyck de Vries after the 2022 Italian Grand Prix beneath.
Driving an F1 automotive is bodily draining. The insane velocity and braking energy of F1 automobiles topic drivers to huge g-forces – round 5 g whereas braking, 2 g whereas accelerating, and between 4 to six g whereas cornering. Drivers can lose as a lot as 3kg per race, and you have to be extremely match to have the ability to muscle an F1 automotive round corners and stamp on the brakes.
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It’s no shock, then, that an F1 rookie like de Vries was so shattered after the race – which makes his efficiency on debut much more spectacular.
De Vries isn’t alone on this regard both. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who missed a 12 months of F1 in 2021 solely to return to Haas this 12 months, additionally complained about how sore his neck was after the primary race of the 12 months, the Bahrain Grand Prix. It additionally didn’t hamper his efficiency, the Dane scoring factors upon his F1 return too.
De Vries has had a very wild weekend. He truly took half in first follow with Aston Martin, taking Sebastian Vettel’s seat, earlier than he was whisked out of the Aston storage to fill in for Albon at Williams after the latter developed appendicitis.
That makes him solely the second F1 driver to race for 2 totally different groups on the identical weekend – the opposite being Austrian driver Harald Ertl in 1978, who did not both pre-qualify or qualify.
It’s only a disgrace that de Vries, who received the F2 title in 2019 and the Components E title in 2020-21, doesn’t have already got an F1 seat. Followers had been mad that Oscar Piastri had been sitting on the sidelines for 2022 – de Vries has been on the sidelines even longer.
That stated, there’s a superb probability that de Vries will find yourself taking Latifi’s seat at Williams subsequent 12 months, particularly contemplating his tremendous efficiency over the weekend. Fingers crossed this proficient younger driver will get an opportunity in F1 quickly… Though he may need to hit the fitness center to construct up a bit extra higher physique power…
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