De Vries replaces Pierre Gasly

De Vries replaces Pierre Gasly, who has been released from an ongoing contract to drive for Alpine next season.

The 27-year-old has put himself in a prime spot to one day potentially replace Sergio Perez and join his friend and countryman Max Verstappen in the Red Bull Racing line-up.

“I’m extremely excited to be joining Scuderia AlphaTauri for 2023,” said de Vries, “and I want to thank both Red Bull and the team for giving me the opportunity to drive in F1.”

“After F2, I took a slightly different path with motorsport, but F1 has always been my dream and I’m grateful to be able to fulfil it. I’ve had a lot of chances to experience the 2022 car this year and I think that has put me in a great position for the upcoming season, I hope this has helped to prepare me for what is to come."

De Vries won the F2 title in 2019, before moving to Formula E, where he won the championship as a works Mercedes driver in his second season in 2020-21. In recent years he has also gained extensive experience of sportscar racing in LMP2 and Toyota reserve driver.

His Mercedes links created an F1 opportunity, and in 2022 he has conducted FP1 sessions for the works team, Williams and Aston Martin, while serving as a reserve driver for all three.

It took several weeks to finalize his deal, as terms for Gasly’s exit and move to Alpine had to be agreed, while de Vries had to free himself from future WEC and Formula E commitments.

“Scuderia AlphaTauri had a very successful time with Pierre,” said AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost. “We will never forget his fantastic victory in Monza and his podium finishes in Brazil and Azerbaijan. I want to thank Pierre for all the effort he’s put into the team in the last years, and I wish him all the best for his future."

“Now, we are pleased to start a new chapter with Nyck, who’s very much welcome at Scuderia AlphaTauri. He is a very high skilled driver, as he won in all the categories he competed in, with many races and championships under his belt."

"I am looking forward to seeing him in our car and I’m confident that with Yuki and Nyck we will have a very strong driver line up for 2023.”

Red Bull’s decision to opt for him as a replacement for Gasly indicates that he is highly regarded within the camp, as the stated role of AlphaTauri is to provide drivers for the senior RBR outfit.

His hiring also may cause questions to be asked about Red Bull’s junior programme, since he has been preferred to Liam Lawson, the man regarded as the next in line, and who has already done an FP1 session for AlphaTauri.

This means there is now only two seats left to be confirmed, Williams and Haas.