There’s a wry smile on Nyck de Vries’ face when asked about his relationship with Max Verstappen.
As the newest face in Formula One, having signed for AlphaTauri for 2023 and beyond, the Dutchman’s path has been inextricably linked with reigning world champion Verstappen.
De Vries may be 27, a ‘late bloomer’ as he describes himself, but it is Verstappen, the 25-year-old ‘older brother’, that has been a key advisor en route to landing his break in F1.
It was announced over the weekend that Nyck de Vries has a full-time race seat from 2023
Max Verstappen has been a key advisor to De Vries helping him to achieve his break in F1
‘Max and I have a great relationship,’ De Vries said.
‘Obviously, we are from a similar era, he is a little bit younger than me but we grew up in karting, we are both Dutch and the way he was approaching racing with his father, driving around in a van though Europe, I think was very much like ours.
‘We live for the sport and we respect each other a lot as drivers, although he is a world champion, and the best in our sport at the moment I’m there.
‘Even though he’s a little bit younger, it almost felt like he has acted as my older brother, we had dinner after Monza together in Monaco and we talked about the possibilities and opportunities.
That resulted in having a conversation with Dr. Marko. We met that same week in Austria.’
It was after he secured pole on Saturday that Verstappen, like a proud brother, beamed at news of De Vries landing the AlphaTauri seat.
Dinner at Monza together, after De Vries was a late call-up to replace Williams’ Alex Albon, who had been struck down with appendicitis, resulted in a ninth-placed finish. Everything accelerated for the rookie Dutchman from there.
De Vries is two years older than Verstappen, but has described Max as almost like an ‘older brother’
‘I’ve always listened to people around me and knowledge is very important in this industry and I think sometimes you see people holding their cards very close to the chest,’ he added.
‘But if you don’t give you don’t get and it’s important to share information to know what’s going on and that was very much that kind of conversation (at dinner).’
De Vries, by his own admission, has taken an unorthodox route to landing his first shot at F1. Even he began to wonder if the chance was ever going to arrive.
A two-time Karting Championship winner, the Uitwellingerga-born racer arrived as a phenom but soon had to find opportunities in Formula 2, where he won the championship in 2019, and in Formula E with Mercedes, when he won the 2020-21 title.
Reserve driver roles with Mercedes and Williams followed and despite competing with the likes of Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, George Russell and Alex Albon in his carting days, the Dutchman, who will be 28 by the time he starts his first season with AlphaTauri, wondered if his window had closed.
‘I will admit that there were certain times in my career that I thought it was very unlikely for me to still get a chance especially when I won Formula 2 and moved into a different direction in Formula E,’ De Vries explained.
De Vries will replace Gasly who is leaving the Red Bull stable to join Alpine in the 2023 season
‘It was not a kind of a common path towards Formula One but somehow I always kept a kind of foot in the door and I think what really defines my career is that I’ve always taken every opportunity that came my way and came down my path.’
He will team up with 22-year-old Yuki Tsunoda next season and even with limited experience in an F1 car, much will be expected of De Vries to lead Red Bull’s sister team in 2023.
As a multi-championship winner across different formulas, does he feel better prepared to hit the ground running?
De Vries achieved a sensational points finish in his F1 debut as replacement for Alex Albon
‘Certainly,’ he shoots back. ‘Of course I’m still lacking a little bit of Formula One experience.
‘There are quite a lot of tracks on the calendar which are still unknown for me but in terms of the maturity and overall racing experience, I have gained a lot.
‘In every other sport you practice your sport every day, in racing you don’t. It is quite limited so I was always in the favour to race and I think that has definitely prepared me, as much as I can be, for what is coming.’
And if he has any questions he could do worse than turn to ‘older brother’ Verstappen for advice.
