Nyck de Vries will replace Lewis Hamilton during FP1
Mercedes announced that their reserve driver Nyck de Vries will replace Lewis Hamilton during the first free practice session of the French Grand Prix.
The FIA has mandated the teams this season to have each of their cars driven by a junior driver at least once, in order to cultivate the talents of tomorrow. Therefore, Mercedes has decided to seize the opportunity of the French Grand Prix by having the former Formula 2 and Formula E champion drive the W13. Nyck de Vries will thus replace Lewis Hamilton during the first free practice session this weekend.
This will be the second time this season that De Vries will take the wheel of a Formula 1 car. He had already driven the Williams during a free practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix. On that occasion, the performance director Dave Robson had stated that the young Dutchman had the capabilities to drive in Formula 1.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal of Mercedes, said: “Nyck is replacing Lewis during the first practice sessions this weekend, as part of the sessions exclusively reserved for young drivers this year. So, we are looking forward to seeing how he will perform.”
Nyck de Vries is therefore replacing Lewis Hamilton for the first time this season, which means that there will be at least one more free practice session remaining for another driver, this time in George Russell’s car. It remains to be seen whether de Vries will continue driving or if another driver will be called in.
