Nyck de Vries was left “over the moon” after scoring two points on his Formula 1 debut in the Italian Grand Prix last weekend.
The Dutchman was called in to replace Alex Albon at Williams after he was struck down with appendicitis on Friday evening.
De Vries had driven for Aston Martin in Free Practice 1 on Friday in place of Sebastian Vettel, necessitating a mid-event team change.
He had just a single 60-minute practice session to reacquaint himself with the FW44 having last driven it during Free Practice 1 at the Spanish Grand Prix in May before heading into qualifying.
The Saturday afternoon session resulted in a time good enough for 13th on the grid, which became eighth once those with penalties were shuffled through the order.
“I am over the moon. I’m super happy,” de Vries said following his maiden grand prix.
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“I’m grateful for the opportunity. I’m glad that I took the opportunity with both hands, and I’m also happy that we executed a good race and scored some points on debut.”
The outing was considered by many something of an impromptu audition for 2023, with de Vries having been touted as a replacement for Nicholas Latifi.
Sunday’s performance sent a clear signal to those in charge at the Grove squad as the Canadian found himself both out-qualified and out-raced.
“Ultimately it’s not up to me to decide whether I should have a seat or not,” said de Vries when asked about his chances of a race drive next season.
“Of course, I can only do my job. We live in a competitive industry so you’re as good as your last race, and you’re always expected to perform.
“Luckily, I did that [in Monza] and I grabbed this opportunity with both hands.
“But ultimately, I’m not entitled to decide a driver line-up. Time will tell.
“I’m glad with what we’ve done [on Sunday] and ultimately no one takes this away from us.”
The ninth place finish in Italy leaves de Vries 20th in the drivers’ standings, one spot up on Latifi who is one of only two drivers who’ve not got of the mark in 2022 – the other be Nico Hulkenberg who ironically substituted for Vettel in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Albon is expected to be fit in time for the Singapore Grand Prix (September 30-October 2) leaving de Vries’ drive in the Italian Grand Prix a cameo for now.
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