F1, Max Verstappen: Nyck de Vries tells a backstory

Max Verstappen decisive in choosing Nyck de Vries

Max Verstappen was decisive in the choice of Nyck de Vries to join, from 2023, the Red Bull orbit, leaving the role re reserve of Mercedes and Williams and taking the steering wheel vacated by Pierre Gasly. Telling the backstory was De Vries himself, speaking to ‘Racer’.

“Even though he’s a bit younger than me, he’s always acted like an older brother,” said the driver who, this season, raced at Monza in the Williams, finishing a brilliant ninth. “We had dinner in Monaco after the Italian Grand Prix and talked about future possibilities. The result? A subsequent chat with Helmut Marko in the same week, in Austria.”

“Max and I are very close friends,” De Vries further explained, “We are more or less of the same generation, we raced in karts together, we are both Dutch…. The way he approaches racing, driving around in a motorhome with his father, was similar to my family. We respect each other, and then he is the world champion, at the moment he is the best in our sport.”