De Vries enjoys relationship with Verstappen: 'My big brother in F1'

Nyck de Vries is gearing up for his first season in Formula 1. The Dutchman is happy that he already knows many drivers well in the motorsport class. For instance, he has an excellent relationship with Max Verstappen, whom he even considers his 'big brother'.

"The first time we actually raced together was in Monza last year," De Vries recalls in conversation with the official website of AlphaTauri. He was given the opportunity to replace Alexander Albon once on behalf of Williams in Italy and made a great impression on the other teams. "We happened to be next to each other on the grid, so that was amazing," he said.

Apart from the moment at Monza, however, De Vries was rarely to be found on the same track as Verstappen. While the two-time world champion has caused a furore at Red Bull Racing in recent years, De Vries spent several seasons as a reserve driver.

However, he knows Verstappen like no other. "We have a great relationship, the way we grew up in racing, with our fathers being very involved and karting through Europe has been very similar and we have a great respect for each other."

De Vries admires Verstappen

De Vries even sees his compatriot as his great role model whom he looks up to. "Despite the fact that I’m older, it almost feels like Max is my big brother within the Formula 1 paddock," said De Vries, who teams up with Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri.