AlphaTauri: Monza race had 'great influence' on decision to sign de Vries

AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost says Nyck de Vries' remarkable F1 debut in last month's Italian Grand Prix with Williams had " a great influence" on his team's decision to sign the Dutchman.

After several years of courting F1 but never getting a break, de Vries was handed FP1 outings earlier this season with Williams, Mercedes and finally Aston Martin at Monza.

But Alex Albon's sudden unavailability on Saturday morning at the Italian Grand Prix due to a case of appendicitis moved de Vries – a Mercedes reserve driver – to centre stage.

From there, the 27-year-old never put a foot wrong and concluded his maiden F1 Grand Prix a remarkable P7. Over at Red Bull, Helmut Marko had taken note of de Vries timely, and so had Tost.

"This had a great influence, because it showed his potential," said the AlphaTauri boss.

"He drove a fantastic race, did not make any mistake, and therefore it was an easy decision to take him.

"Monza was important, but it was not an eye-opener, because Nyck was also on the radar before.

"With the special circumstances of other drivers leaving their teams, Red Bull also decided not to race with Pierre Gasly from 2024 onwards, all these components together brought us to the decision that Nyck de Vries is the best possibility and that he will fit quite well into the team."

• Read also: De Vries handed full-time drive with AlphaTauri for 2023

Asked why de Vries was such an obvious choice after Red Bull's failed opportunity to recruit IndyCar star Colton Herta, Tost said that he was well-acquainted with the Dutchman's credentials.

"Because he’s fast!" he said. "I know his history, I saw him in karting, he won in 2010 and ‘11 the European and World championship in karting, and then he was really successful in all the categories he raced.

"He won Formula Renault [2.0], Formula 2, also in Formula E, and therefore I think he is a very high-skilled driver, and he deserves to be in Formula 1.

"We are really looking forward to having him in our car."

Tost expects de Vries to be competitive from the get-go next season.

"I expect that this learning period will be reduced to a couple of tests. That means I expect him to be very competitive from the first race onwards in 2023."

While hopeful of AlphaTauri's ability to field a competitive car next year, Tost admits that any complications on that front could weigh on the team given the limited F1 experience of its 2023 line-up.

"The guidance of the team depends also on the performance of the car," he said.

"If we have a good car, it’s easy for both drivers. If we have problems with the car, then I think that it will not be so easy to sort out everything because Nyck hasn’t so much F1 experience, and Yuki is still in a learning process.

"I think that Yuki next year should be measured enough to give technical guidance.

"Nevertheless, I expect a lot from Nyck because he has experience from racing categories where he won races and championships, and therefore if the car works, I think that we will have a successful year."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter