Buoyed by his sensational debut at Monza last season, Nyck de Vries can't wait to show the world that there's more to come.

Stepping in for Alex Albon at Monza, the Dutch youngster almost certainly drove the final nail into the coffin that was Nicholas Latifi's F1 career, qualifying 13th to the Canadian's 16th and finishing ninth the following day, thereby joining that fairly exclusive club consisting of drivers who have scored points on their F1 debuts, a feat only achieved by seven drivers on the 2023 grid, not least teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

With Toto Wolff quick to insist that the result wouldn't see the youngster in a Mercedes F1 car anytime soon, De Vries looked elsewhere, eventually finding a berth at AlphaTauri.

Asked what excites him most about his first season in F1, the Dutchman said: "First of all, to get the opportunity to live my dream, but equally to be very motivated to perform and to deliver.

"I think partly because my journey has been slightly unusual and longer, I'm even more grateful for the opportunity," he added, "more motivated to grab it, and hungrier to show what I'm worth."

At AlphaTauri he replaces Pierre Gasly, teaming up with Yuki Tsunoda, who is already on notice to raise his game.

Despite the Faenza outfit's reputation for its lack of patience, the two-time kart world champion, 2019 F2 champion and 2020/2021 Formula E champion, says he has been made to feel one of the family.

"It seemed like everyone was very excited about my arrival and we certainly did everything we could to integrate me as quickly as possible," he said.

"I spent time with different engineering departments, with different people within the team, and we've also done a little bit more specific work on preferences, likings, on all sorts of things.

"I feel like we did a good job of using the time to welcome and integrate me into the team but at the same time, we have started to look at gaps where there is room for improvement which we needed to highlight.

‘We've used our time well in terms of the physical aspect and we've been pushing really hard. I'm just basically enjoying the ride and I'm very excited to start our season."

While the sport is enjoying unprecedented popularity in the US, the success of Max Verstappen has seen the Dutch go F1 crazy, and De Vries is hoping to steal some of his close friend and countryman's limelight.

"Obviously, Max has done incredibly well in Formula 1. He's dominating our sport at the moment and rightfully, the whole country is behind him and the Dutch are very excited about Formula 1.

"I'm starting my Formula 1 journey, and while Max will be continuing to fight for championships, I'll try to make my mark in my way as well.

"Apart from that, I don't know how much of the support will be divided between us. Of course, the fans are behind Max and now they have a second Dutch driver to cheer for."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Defiant, 13/02/2023 17:00

""@Ed. I think Nick is going to be a decent addition to the grid, his accolades are impressive but I must admit I was surprised to read they were even more impressive than I previously thought. :)

"""Despite the Faenza outfit's reputation for its lack of patience, the two-time kart world champion, 2019 F1 champion and 2020/2021 Formula E champion, says he has been made to feel one of the family."""

Then again, I suppose he is in the RB camp, maybe they cheated in 2019 too and not just 2021. ;)""

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2. Posted by Defiant, 13/02/2023 16:57

"@Ed. I think Nick is going to be a decent addition to the grid, his accolades are impressive but I must admit I was surprised to read they were even impressive than I previously thought. :)

"""Despite the Faenza outfit's reputation for its lack of patience, the two-time kart world champion, 2019 F1 champion and 2020/2021 Formula E champion, says he has been made to feel one of the family."""

Then again, I suppose he is in the RB camp, maybe they cheated in 2019 too and not just 2021. ;)"

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De Vries "hungry" to show his "worth"

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