De Vries impressed in his first F1 race at Monza after taking Albon’s seat with only a few hours’ notice. Having driven for Aston Martin in FP1, he was drafted in at the last minute to deputise for Williams for FP3, qualifying and the race in Italy.
Despite having little practice in the 2022 cars other than his simulation work, De Vries managed to finish in ninth position, securing two points and beating his team-mate Nicholas Latifi and triggered a chase between several teams including Williams and Alpine.
And it seems the glimpse of him in action, in addition to his past success in F2 and Formula E, were enough to convince Horner and Marko that he is worth taking a risk on, with the added benefit of angering Wolff by snatching away one of his favorite upcoming drivers.
