Nyck de Vries has his work cut out for him in F1, but the Dutch rookie is “well positioned” to perform well among motorsport’s elite according to his former Mercedes Formula E boss Ian James.
De Vries – who won the ABB FIA Formula E Championship with Mercedes in 2021 – enjoyed a string of FP1 outings in F1 this year with Mercedes affiliated teams.
But it was his remarquable race debut with Williams at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where he substituted at the last minute for an ill Alex Albon and finished P9, that propelled the 27-year-old on to the drivers’ market where he was swiftly picked up by Red Bull for AlphaTauri’s benefit.
James, who now manages McLaren’s Formula E efforts as a result of the Woking-based outfit's acquisition of the Mercedes’ works Formula E team, worked with de Vries’ for three seasons in the all-electric series.
The Briton as therefore well-placed to appreciate his former driver’s qualities and to gauge his potential as an F1 driver.
"I think it's so richly deserved," James told Motorsport.com of de Vries' promotion.
"He was somebody that we took a look at before coming in for Season 6 and recognised his qualities, not only as a driver, but as a team player.
"Any team that he drives for is going to benefit from that approach. He has a way of saying what needs to be said, pointing out where improvements can be made, but doing it in a diplomatic fashion that doesn't get people's backs up.
"And that's quite an important quality in a driver, and especially as a driver that's going into a team which maybe hasn't quite realised its full potential yet and has room to grow.
"I think that he's going to be very well positioned, notwithstanding Formula 1 is a different series. It's brutal, and I think he's going to have his work cut out, but his character I think will stand him in good stead."
It’s often debated whether Formula E is a genuine breeding ground for young talent or whether the all-electric series is merely a receptacle for rejected F1 drivers.
James believes de Vries’ promotion to F1 proves that Formula E is indeed a talent pool, but not one limited to its young racers. The McLaren FE chief is therefore eager to see how de Vries performs in F1.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing him get his teeth into his inaugural season and see how he gets on," he added.
"I think it's a huge success story for Formula E as well.
“We've always been confident in the fact that we've got the talent here, be it the drivers, the engineers, that commercial staff and mechanics, that they could quite easily move between different series, whether that be Formula 1, or Formula E, or WEC or whatever it is.
"And this is further proof that the quality of the talent within this paddock is worthy of anything else out there."
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