Nyck de Vries can copy George Russell after Nicholas Latifi axed

Mercedes: What’s gone wrong at the F1 and can they recover?

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Nyck de Vries may match George Russell and join Williams before a move to Mercedes. The Dutchman is thought to be among the contenders to replace Latifi after starring in his F1 debut with the team at the Italian Grand Prix.

De Vries scored points in his first F1 race as team-mate Latifi struggled to P15. Williams team principal Jost Capito praised De Vries after Monza and stressed there was nothing more he could do to secure a drive.

Capito said: “He did an absolutely outstanding job and I rate him extremely highly. That’s why my expectations are extremely high and he overfulfilled these. It’s so difficult to get in that car to race for two hours and do the qualifying, and not doing any mistakes and not driving on its own.

“He had to defend, he had to attack. He had to get lapped and not do a mistake, then he had to do the pitstop. It’s just so complicated, and it’s an outstanding job.”

If he secures the drive, De Vries will follow Russell as another Mercedes youngster to drive for the team. Russell was promoted from F2 to Williams in 2019 and quickly impressed the Silver Arrows.

He stood in for Lewis Hamilton at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix before being offered a seat at the Silver Arrows for 2022. Wolff also appeared keen on De Vries’ talent, admitting he likes him a lot” after showing off his skills at Monza.

Wolff added: “I think if one of the teams who still have a free seat don’t pick him up now, then I don’t understand the world anymore.” De Vries already had links to Mercedes having driven Hamilton’s car in FP1 at the French Grand Prix earlier this summer.

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The 27-year-old also won the 2020/21 Formula E championship for the Mercedes’ owned team. World Touring Car star Tom Coronel even suggested De Vries was already Wolff’s “insurance policy” if Hamilton ever walked away from the sport.

However, De Vries could still face obstacles Russell didn’t need to in his bid for a Mercedes drive. It’s clear Russell was being prepared to one day drive for the team, but De Vries could struggle due to a lack of seats

Wolff previously admitted they could do nothing more for him and may need to release him from his Mercedes contract. Speaking at Paul Ricard, Wolff said he “can’t really help” De Vries secure a seat at another team as it could be seen as an interference.

He added: “If we are not able to provide him with an interesting Formula One project, in a way we need to let him go.”

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