According to Verstappen, De Vries is 'exactly what AlphaTauri needs'

Max Verstappen fully understands Nyck de Vries's opportunity at AlphaTauri this season. The two-time world champion knows his compatriot extremely well and expects the rookie to do well straight away in his first season, he told Motorsport.com.

Sister team Red Bull Racing seems to expect De Vries to lead his team in his first season already and that does not surprise Verstappen at all. Although De Vries has hardly any experience in Formula 1, he did show in other racing classes what qualities he carries with him.

Moreover, at 27 years old, he brings more experience than Verstappen did in 2015, who was 11 years younger at the time. " Nyck also feels the car pretty well in my opinion and that is exactly what AlphaTauri needs," Verstappen analysed.

For years, De Vries tried his best to convince Formula 1 teams of his qualities, but each time he fell by the wayside. Then, after his strong performance last year in Italy on behalf of Williams, they could no longer ignore him and AlphaTauri eventually chose him.

According to Verstappen, De Vries deserves the chance like no other and made the right choice with Helmut Marko. "Helmut is the guy who just puts you in the car if he likes something, while other teams are often a bit more cautious about that. But that's also the beauty of Red Bull."