F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Russell glad to see 'stars align' for old rival de Vries

Mercedes driver George Russell says he is pleased for his old rival Nyck de Vries, who will finally get his full-time break in Formula 1 with the AlphaTauri team next season.

The pair first met up while karting, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. But they didn't compete against each other at the time, as de Vries was three years older than Russell.

But it was very different when they went head to head in the 2018 Formula 2 championship, which Russell ended up winning in his rookie campaign having won the GP3 championship the previous year.

De Vries ended up in fourth place behind Russell, Lando Norris and Alex Albon in what proved to be a golden year for future F1 talent. De Vries stayed on in F2 and took the title himself the following year ahead of Nicholas Latifi.

But while Russell, Norris, Albon and even Latifi all powered into F1, de Vries was left without a way in and ended up transferring to Formula E, where he claimed the championship with Mercedes-EQ in 2021.

Even so, it looked like de Vries had missed his chance of breaking into F1 despite making practice appearances for Mercedes, Aston Martin and Williams. And then came the case of 'Albon and the acute attack of appendicitis' at Monza.

De Vries jumped in to replace Albon at the last minute and went on to finish the Italian GP in the top ten. Suddenly the doors that had been slammed shut were thrown open, and AlphaTauri won the race for his signature for next year.

And about time too, was the reaction from Russell, who made his own bow in the 2019 Australian Grand Prix with Williams and who has now lined up for 78 race starts.

“Out of the karting boys, Nyck was the only one who hadn’t made it to F1 who probably deserved to make it to F1," Russell told Motorsport.com.

"Those five drivers - between myself, Alex, Max, Charles, and Nyck, who were in that period racing against each other in ’11 and ’12 - as I said, Nyck was the only one who hadn’t made it, so [I'm] happy to see him there.

“I’ve always rated him," Russell continued, recalling their time together as Mercedes proteges. "In go-karting, he was the man to beat. I never raced him in go-karting, but out of all of us, he was probably the most successful.

“I’ve never not rated him," he added, acknowledging that it was odd it had taken this long for the Dutch driver to find his way onto the F1 grid despite all his successes elsewhere.

"I think to get to F1 you need to do the job at the right time when there is an opportunity on the grid, and sometimes those stars don’t align," he explained.

“But with the amount of stars that aligned in Monza, it probably made up for the unfortunateness of a few years ago!"

“Definitely intrigued to see how he’ll get on,” Russell added. “I’ve got no doubt that he’ll perform well. He’s got all the possibilities to be a great F1 driver, I’m sure he’ll do great.”

Norris has been even luckier in finding his way into F1 with a top team while still a teenager, and described de vries as "clearly a very good driver".

“I think he's proved that since the very beginning in karting. He completely dominated a lot of the karting stuff, he's Formula E world champion and many things," he said. “Obviously he deserves it

"He did a good job in Monza when he sat in. He's proved his worth, and we'll see next year what he can do."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

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

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Alpine double-podium in Brazil could deliver $30 million windfall

Alpine’s remarkable double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon and Pierre…

10 hours ago

F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2024 São Paulo GP

Alexander Albon, Williams (Did Not Start): 5.5/10 Alex Albon is definitely going through something of…

12 hours ago

Jos Verstappen rips British media after Brazilian Max fest

Jos Verstappen wasted no time after his son spectacular win at the São Paulo Grand…

13 hours ago

Leclerc left with ‘mixed feelings’ after disappointing Sao Paulo GP

Charles Leclerc's weekend in Sao Paulo was unfortunately a stark contrast to Ferrari's recent triumphs…

15 hours ago

Back when Kimi knew exactly what he was doing

Twelve years ago on this day, Kimi Raikkonen took a popular win at the 2012…

16 hours ago

Mercedes fined for starting grid tyre pressure infringement

The Mercedes team was hit with a fine by the FIA after Sunday’s Sao Paulo…

17 hours ago