Nyck de Vries has explained the "massive" change that he has made to his physical training routine in order to be prepared for his debut full-time season in F1. After winning the Formula 2 championship in 2019, de Vries moved to Formula E and admits that his fitness regime was not as much the priority as it had previously been. "Basically, my journey up until Formula 2, I've always been quite committed on training," de Vries explained on the AlphaTauri Tauri Talk podcast. "I enjoyed training, [I] always trained with a coach. But then when I moved into Formula E, away from Formula 2 and Formula 1, the necessity of being fit just becomes less important. "Suddenly, a lot of other things become more important in life. You just prioritise according to what is most important for the performance on track. "Frankly speaking, in the past two or three years, I've mainly been exercising how I like, joining gym classes for fun. I've always been active and training, but never really with a routine."
De Vries: Being physically prepared for F1 is crucial
Following a one-off appearance for Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix in place of an unwell Alex Albon, de Vries secured a seat on the Formula 1 grid for 2023 with AlphaTauri. Since then, the Dutchman has been working with trainer Pyry Salmela – who previously worked with Pierre Gasly – to ensure that he is as physically prepared as possible for F1, something that he admits has come as a big change. "Joining Pyry has changed [my routine] massively," de Vries continued. "I think that the importance of being physically prepared for Formula 1 is crucial. It's not important, but it's crucial, so I'm very happy that I have Pyry alongside me. "He has a lot of knowledge and experience in the sport. He has been with the team for many years and he knows exactly what it takes and requires to be ready for Formula 1. "I'm very happy that he can guide me and prepare me for that, and I fully trust him to do the job."
De Vries 'loving' preparation
While the training with Salmela may have been tough at times, de Vries is relishing the preparations ahead of his first full season in F1. "I was going to say [Salmela] takes me through the pain but, actually, when we go through proper pain, we share it, which is very, very kind of him!" de Vries added. "Every painful interval session or every very heavy session we've had, we've definitely done together, so that's been encouraging. "But the preparation has been very different to any other season prior to this and, actually, I'm loving it. "I love living like an athlete, putting the work [and] the time into our preparation and just giving everything we have to achieve the best possible outcome together."
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