De Vries: 'I trained alongside Novak Djokovic'

When the French journalist calls De Vries for an interview, the Dutchman is just walking out of the gym. "I got to train alongside Novak Djokovic," laughs De Vries, after being asked how his shoulders are? Indeed, immediately after the race in Monza, the debutant announced over the team radio that his shoulders were 'completely dead'.

Life goes on

Meanwhile, he is no longer bothered by that: "My shoulders are better, fortunately they quickly got normal after the race. But they were definitely very tired (laughs). I'm not going to complain, I lived on a little cloud on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Those were great times. Still, I quickly refocused because I have to be ready for what's to come. It was an amazing experience, which I enjoyed. I got so much support... And at the same time, life goes on!"

De Vries was already on the radar of Formula 1 teams. But his performance in Italy seems to have given him the final, necessary push to secure a permanent seat. What many team bosses are likely to find interesting is the way De Vries managed to find the limit of the Williams almost immediately. Although he is still critical of that himself. "The biggest challenge is not so much to find the limit, it's to be as close to it everywhere! I don't think I was very successful in finding this balance. That was also visible in qualifying, where I was erratic and where I made mistakes."

Fast learner

But De Vries was a fast learner. During the race, De Vries showed he was an experienced driver, who immediately knew what all to do. "Getting into the car at short notice is obviously a huge challenge, especially in qualifying. But in the race it is different, you notice that you can manage. You have more help from the pit wall. A good start was especially crucial, I quickly found my rhythm and the goal was to stay in the DRS train," said De Vries, who eventually finished ninth in this train.