Mercedes has announced that reserve driver, Nyck de Vries will replace Lewis Hamilton in the opening practice session at Paul Ricard this weekend.

According to the world champions, over the course of the season each driver is required to give up one of their first practice sessions for a young driver. Hamilton has selected FP1 in France for his session, and George Russell's will take place later in the season.

This won't be the youngster's first FP1 outing for in Spain he replaced Alex Albon in the opening session.

Karting world champion in 2010 and 2011, de Vries went on to win the 2014 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps before going on to win the F2 championship in 2019. He also won the seventh season (2020-2021) of the Formula E championship.

Like Oscar Piastri, de Vries is another of those talents that many feel is a natural for F1 but has been unable to secure a seat.

Currently contesting the Formula E championship with the Mercedes EQ team, alongside his reserve duties for the German team, McLaren and Williams, at the end of last year the youngster took part in an IndyCar test with Meyer Shank Racing at Sebring, posting the fastest time of the various rookies attending the test.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 20/07/2022 17:55

"@Motorsport-fan - we also need older drivers to realize when their moment in the sun is over and retire (Alonso, Vettle, after this season maybe even Hamilton). Be great to see some of the pay drivers make way for better talent too (looking at you Stroll, Latifi, and Zhou).

But yes, another 3 teams to fill out the 26 car grid that historically we had would be awesome and would give a lot more opportunity to youngsters like Piastri and DeVries. "

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2. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 20/07/2022 13:03

"Why we need a larger F1 grid to give these guys a chance."

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De Vries to replace Hamilton in FP1 at Paul Ricard

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