Nyck de Vries has already won twice on the streets of Monaco but was in action on the circuit for the first time with a Formula 1 car. The Dutchman is enjoying driving in Monaco but knows there is still plenty of work to be done.
For De Vries, Monaco is certainly not unknown territory. Not only does the Dutchman himself live in Monaco, but he has also driven several races there. For instance, he competed here twice in Formula E and in his Formula 2 career he even managed to win here twice. In 2017 the sprint race, and two years later the main race.
Good day for De Vries
The first two practice sessions in an F1 car will obviously feel different and AlphaTauri does not seem to be in good shape right away either. De Vries finished the first free practice session 16th and the second session 17th. There simply wasn't much more in the AT04, as teammate Yuki Tsunoda was only narrowly faster than the Dutchman each session.
''I’m enjoying this track. I raced here in Formula 2 and Formula E, but coming here as the main series is definitely different. I think it was a solid Friday, in which we made progress throughout both of the sessions. We are slowly chipping away and getting more comfortable with the car on track, but there is still some work to do for the balance,'' De Vries reveals in his team's press release.
''The Monaco track isn’t an aerodynamic-sensitive track, so we will need to find more performance elsewhere from the new upgrades. We’ll do our homework tonight and we will need to keep it clean tomorrow when there will be a lot of cars on track during Q1, so getting a lap together will be challenging,'' concluded the AlphaTauri driver.