Nyck de Vries looked back on his memories with Max Verstappen, revealing he and the double Formula 1 Champion used to travel together during their junior careers.
De Vries will make his full time F1 debut with AlphaTauri in 2023, the Faenza outfit scooping the Dutchman after his impressive performance filling in for Alex Albon at Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
Max Verstappen revealed that he urged De Vries to call Red Bull consultant Dr. Helmut Marko after Monza and as things transpired, the Formula E and Formula 2 Champion ended up at AlphaTauri.
Speaking to the Formula 1’s Beyond the Grid Podcast, De Vries shed some light on his relationship with Verstappen as they went up the racing ranks.
“We’ve known each other since we were kids,” he said. “We’ve grown up in the same era of racing. We – I think – approached karting and racing in our earlier years very similarly.
“We both travelled around in a van with our dads,” De Vries revealed. “We just really respected each other and saw each other every weekend, pretty much. But strangely, because Max is obviously two years younger than me, we never raced against each other.”
Verstappen was supportive at Monza
The first time the two Dutchmen met on track was at Monza back in September, as they lined up on the starting grid seventh and eighth (Verstappen ahead), as De Vries went on to finish ninth on his impressive point-scoring F1 debut, while his compatriot took the win.
“Monza was actually the first time in our lives we raced against each other,” De Vries reflected. “Ironically, we even ended up next to each other on the grid.
“We were texting about it the evening prior to the race on Saturday evening and we were texting again on Sunday morning.
“On the grid [ahead of the race], he came to see me and, as an older brother does, encouraged me a little bit, which was very kind – he’s been very supportive,” the future AlphaTauri driver added.
Asked how will the Dutch fans deal with two national heroes on the grid in 2023, De Vries said: “Obviously, Max deserves all the support in the world, especially from our country.
“He is and he has been amazing. But hopefully there will be some orange fans rooting and cheering for me too!” he concluded.