De Vries on emotional father: "There was no word coming out of him"

Nyck de Vries was in Italy with the Mercedes team to watch the Monza Grand Prix, but suddenly he was allowed to board the Williams team as Alexander Albon's replacement. De Vries' father rushed headlong into the car towards the circuit to cheer Nyck on. It was a very emotional moment for both on Sunday morning.

Lots of emotions

De Vries made his first appearance in Formula 1 qualifying on Saturday, but a day later the official debut was a fact. After years of waiting, the moment was finally there. Father Hendrik Jan witnessed it. De Vries Sr. and Jr. couldn't believe their luck.

"He came to the race, and Dutch television tried to interview him on the grid,” Nyck smiles. “And he didn’t... there was no word coming out of him, because he was so emotional…," laughs De Vries in conversation with GP Racing magazine .

The 27-year-old Dutchman goes on to say that his father was at the circuit on Sunday morning well before the race started, even earlier than himself. "He’s always awake early. So he was at the track before me, he was sitting there, and I saw him and I gave him a hug, but I couldn’t even stand with him for a second because I could immediately feel we both, just looking at each other… almost started crying. We just couldn’t even share a word. So I just walked off."

De Vries secures F1 contract

De Vries finished ninth on his debut on behalf of Williams, scoring two points. It eventually earned him a contract with the AlphaTauri team. His excellent performance was enough reason for Helmut Marko to choose De Vries as a replacement for Pierre Gasly, who left for Alpine.