F1 rookie Nyck de Vries says he accidentally hit a brake-balance switch on the steering wheel of his Williams which caused his car to step out of line during his final flyer in Q2.
De Vries was drafted in by Williams this morning at Monza to substitute for Alex Albon after the Anglo-Thaai racer suffered an acute case of appendicitis.
While the Mercedes reserve driver is familiar with the Williams team, having driven for the Grove-based outfit in FP1 in Barcelona earlier this year, the 27-year-old had just over 30 minutes in FP3 to gear himself up for Saturday's qualifying.
"Things turned around very quickly, it was only one and a half hours before the first session that I kind of got informed," de Vries said.
"The turnaround was very quick, but the team has been great and very supportive, very welcoming.
"I heard that Alex is healthy and will recover quickly, but from my side, I’m never satisfied enough with myself."
And yet the Dutchman acquitted himself well, setting the 13th fastest time overall after he made the Q2 cut and outpacing Williams teammate Nicholas Latifi who was left stranded in Q3!
"I think I put in some good laps, especially the second lap in Q1 was pretty good, but I still felt there was more in it," he added. "And then we made some changes in the first run of Q2 and that didn’t quite work out.
"Obviously, the tyre prep was a bit compromised on the track. And on the last run, I hit a switch which meant that the brake balance was like one and a half percent rearwards, and that’s how I kind of lost the rear into [Turn] 4!
"A bit gutted about that, but I think that I am allowed to take this anyway."
De Vries admitted that getting into the flow and performing consistently was challenging.
"I think in some corners I was beyond 100 per cent, resulting in small mistakes and locking up, not getting the perfect way through," he said.
"There were also corners I was slightly below. I think the most challenging bit in qualifying is being as close as possible to 100 per cent all around the lap.
"I didn’t succeed to do that, but P13 isn’t too bad a result."
For good measure, the 2019 FIA Formula 2 champion is expected to start his race in P8 as a result of the grid drops impacting several drivers who qualified ahead of him.
Regardless, de Vries will another opportunity on Sunday to demonstrate why he deserves to have a seat in Formula 1 in 2023.
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