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As Verstappen won the Italian GP behind a late-safety car with Russell and Hamilton finishing at third and fifth respectively, the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers had praised Williams’ Nyck. If truth is to be spoken, De Vries, the 27-year-old Dutchman who won the 2020-21 Formula E World Championship alongside 2019 F2, had had a memorable three days at Monza. De Vries finished at ninth on his debut and surprized many. As Williams’ Albon fell ill, De Vries has had a window of opportunity to show his talents, raising questions on whether he should replace Nicolas Latifi. Apart from that, several analysts were quoted saying following De Vries’ debut that Latifi still lacks pace to wrangle in F1 arena. Nonetheless, a low-budget constructor team of Williams must be contemplated before laying the blames on Latifi, said several F1 analysts.
Verstappen, Hamilton and Russell praise Latifi
Meanwhile, speaking in an interview with a press agency, Verstappen, the reigning F1 champion who took his first Italian GP at home on Sunday, praised De Vries’ remarkable performance saying, “A bit unexpected, right!
We joked about it last night. I know him very well, he's a great friend of mine”. Hamilton said to a press agency shortly after the race on De Vries’ performance, “Oh, incredibly happy for Nyck, and really proud of him.
He's such a good lad, a good human, he's been a good part of our team working with us. I hope Albon is OK, I know he's gone through a hard weekend, but for Nyck to have jumped in and finish in the top ten in his first race, that's mega for your first race since ages”.
Apart from that, Mercedes’ Russell said, “He did an excellent job. Throughout all of our karting careers he was one of the best. There's no doubt he is deserving of a place in Formula One. There's 20 drivers, not everybody gets an opportunity, but certainly now he's proved everything he has to”.