Incoming AlphaTauri Formula 1 driver Nyck de Vries has revealed he previously missed out on four opportunities to secure a full-time race drive. 2020/21 Formula E champion de Vries is set to partner Yuki Tsunoda at the Italian squad in the 2023 campaign, having impressed Red Bull driver boss Helmut Marko during his stand-in performance for Williams at last season's Italian Grand Prix. After Pierre Gasly's departure to Alpine and the failure of Colton Herta to be granted a waiver to obtain his superlicence, de Vries was targeted, with a deal coming shortly after. However, he has admitted that the prize of a full-time race seat had been something he was close to previously, but that the deal could just not be wrapped up.
De Vries on multiple rejections
The 27-year-old Dutch racer's versatility impressed throughout 2022, driving for Mercedes, Aston Martin and Williams in young driver FP1 sessions, Alpine in a mid-season test (with the 2021 car) and had a seat fit in Brazil in case an ill Lando Norris did not recover from food poisoning. And while he was content in being the F1 'super sub', losing out on a full-time drive was grating. "To be honest, there were more times when I thought it was never going to happen than when it did," de Vries explained on the Day1 YouTube channel to host Jay Jay Boske. "I didn't get frustrated with that, because at the same time, I was very happy with what I did have and the opportunities I did get. "But on the other hand, I was constantly present at Formula 1 weekends and then it is very in your face that you are not driving. You are very close and at the same time, very far away. "I had days when I thought: 'This is not going to happen anymore,' but deep down, I always kept some kind of faith despite the fact that I have been rejected four times since 2021. "After I won Formula 2 [in 2019], there was no place for me in Formula 1 - that is kind of a rejection. "In 2021, I won the Formula E championship and we were very close, but it didn't work out in the end. "During last season there were maybe two or three moments when there was serious talk about my future - and every time there had to be an answer, [it was no] because I had other obligations outside of F1."
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