De Vries joins Yuki Tsunoda for the 2023 F1 season to replace the experienced Pierre Gasly, who was selected by Alpine.

De Vries is an F1 rookie with just one grand prix start to his name, when he replaced the injured Alex Albon at last year’s Italian Grand Prix.

Tsunoda, now in his third season, is the team’s more experienced driver in F1, but Faenza still expects De Vries to make a significant contribution to the car’s development thanks to his extensive experience outside of F1. experience.

Between his Formula 2 crown in 2019 and his belated F1 graduation, the 28-year-old excelled in sports cars and claimed the Formula E world title, while also working as a reserve driver at Mercedes.

De Vries has impressed the team with the range of feedback on the car, which already puts the AlphaTauri in a good position as it aims to improve after the 2023 Challenger fell short of some of its initial development targets.

Asked by Autosport whether de Vries delivered on his development promises, AlphaTauri technical director Jody Eckington said: “Yeah, I think he delivered.

“Nyck has a lot of experience. Before joining us he only had one race in Formula 1, but he has a lot of experience in other formulas and also has experience testing and driving other people’s F1 cars.

“And his feedback has been great. In the process of learning the car, he has a clear idea of ​​what he wants out of the car. He is helping us move the development forward, so this has been a huge effort with Yuki contribute.”

Nyck de Vries, AlphaTauri

Photography: Red Bull Content Pool

The first iteration of the AT04 floor design has been delivered to the Australian Grand Prix in what the team says is the first of “five or six steps”.

Eggington pointed out that the Dutchman has a similar idea of ​​what the car needs when compared to teammate Kakuta.

It helps the under-pressure team chart a path for development as it looks to move up from ninth in the constructors’ standings. AlphaTauri have scored just one point so far in a competitive midfield.

“Both drivers have a pretty good idea of ​​what the car is doing and what they want out of it, and they’re pretty consistent,” Egginton explained.

“It made our development process a little bit easier because we had very common goals on both sides of the garage.

“With this update, we’ve bought the track, they’ve all experienced it and they’ve all had similar feedback.

“It’s great on top of all the data we’ve collected because it means they’re all seeing the benefits of it. So far so good in that regard.”