De Vries ten years older at F1 debut than Verstappen: 'That's irrelevant'

With Pierre Gasly 's departure to Alpine, it was also immediately announced that De Vries will take over his spot at AlphaTauri next year. This means that, for the first time in a long time, two Dutch drivers will be back alongside each other in F1. De Vries will get his F1 chance at the age of 28 relatively late. The Dutchman, meanwhile, became champion in Formula 2 and Formula E, but was never a serious contender for an F1 seat. Until he had to fill in for Alexander Albon at Williams during the 2022 Italian GP.

De Vries says age difference on debut is irrelevant

The chances grew significantly after the Italian weekend and now De Vries has been confirmed for 2023. In the Beyond the Grid podcast the upcoming AlphaTauri driver is a guest. In the interview, De Vries discusses the big age difference with his compatriot Verstappen on his F1 debut: "Everybody walks his own path. Regardless of my age or how I got here. I think it's almost irrelevant. For me personally, it is relevant, but for getting the opportunity it is irrelevant. Getting that opportunity, when the time is right, is all that matters in the end."

After the Dutchman's already successful and long racing career, which feels like a rollercoaster for De Vries, the long wait and hard fight for his dream is worth a lot: "It even feels better to only now get the chance. After all, at times it seemed much less likely that my dream would come true, but at the same time I never gave up."