De Vries lands a full-time F1 drive at AlphaTauri in 2023

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 position to one day potentially replace Sergio Perez and join friend and compatriot Max Verstappen in the Red Bull Racing line-up.

“I’m really excited to be joining Scuderia AlphaTauri in 2023,” said de Vries, “and I’d like to thank both Red Bull and the team for giving me the opportunity to drive in Formula 1.

“After Formula 2, I took a slightly different path with motorsport, but Formula 1 has always been my dream and I’m grateful to be able to make it come true.

“I’ve had a lot of opportunities to experience the 2022 car this year and I think that put me in a great position for the upcoming season. I hope this has helped prepare me for what is to come.

“Having spent most of my teenage years in Italy for karting I’ve always felt at home there so it’s great for me to join an Italian team that already has a real family feel and I’m looking forward to that Meet everyone and start building our relationship ahead of next season.”

The confirmation of de Vries’ long-awaited move to Faenza is the latest step in a spectacular career change.

Inducted as a McLaren junior driver while he was still in karting, where he won the world championship, he enjoyed almost a decade of support before parting ways with the Woking team after a disappointing 2018 season in F2 – although he always did fourth overall was George Russell, Lando Norris and Alex Albon.

De Vries returned in 2019 and won the F2 title 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 in sports car racing as an LMP2 and Toyota reserve driver.

His Mercedes connections have created an F1 opportunity and in 2022 he has officiated FP1 sessions for the factory team, Williams and Aston Martin while serving as reserve driver for all three.

Even before a spectacular F1 debut at Monza last month – where he replaced the ailing Alex Albon at Williams from FP3 and enjoyed a blistering drive to ninth place in the race – he had attracted interest from several teams as a potential racer for 2023 exposed.

He racked up more F1 miles with a fourth car when he tested a 2021 Alpine in Budapest shortly after his Monza appearance. With all hopes of a super license from Colton Herta dwindling, AlphaTauri became the most likely target for de Vries.

The deal took several weeks to finalize, as terms had to be agreed for Gasly’s departure and move to Alpine, 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 win at Monza and his podium finishes in Brazil and Azerbaijan.

“I would like to thank Pierre for all the work he has put into the team over the past few years and I wish him all the best for the future.

“Now we are delighted to start a new chapter with Nyck, who is very welcome at Scuderia AlphaTauri. He is a very highly skilled rider having won many races and championships in all the categories he has competed in.

“His last major win was winning the Formula E World Championship and that is clear proof that he is a very competitive driver who deserves a place in F1.

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

Red Bull’s decision to choose him as Gasly’s replacement shows that he is well regarded in the camp as AlphaTauri’s stated role is to provide riders for the older RBR team.

His hiring could also lead to questions being asked about Red Bull’s youth programme, as he has been chosen over Liam Lawson, the man believed to be next in line and who has already completed one FP1 session for AlphaTauri.