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Senior Mercedes personnel Andrew Shovlin feels Nyck de Vries can be a race winner in F1. The Dutch driver will take part in his first full season in F1 with AlphaTauri this season.
De Vries was a Mercedes test and reserve driver before moving to the Red Bull team and it was the one-off opportunity with Williams that landed him the seat at AlphaTauri.
In the book Max & Nyck by Dutch authors Ivo Pakvis and Stijn Keuris, Shovlin speaks very positively about de Vries as he admits the team might regret letting De Vries go. He said:
“We might regret letting him go. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him in the Red Bull factory team soon. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that happens in the next twelve months or so. I have no doubt that Nyck has the ability to win races if he’s in the right team with the right car."
"Whether he can become world champion depends on himself. Because of his age, he has less time to do that, but he makes up for that with his experience.”
Talking about the chain of events that led to the Dutch driver's departure from the German outfit, Shovlin stated that it ultimately came down to determining what's best for Nyck. He said:
“We had an agreement with Nyck that he could choose the best option if we couldn’t place him with a Mercedes team. He fitted very well into our team but you can’t stop anyone. He was the ideal test and reserve driver for us."
Mercedes blocking De Vries' move would not have been right
Shovlin revealed that the team could have tried to keep De Vries but it did not make sense. The driver had been a great addition but the emphasis had to be on doing things the right way for the Dutch driver. Shovlin said:
"If we could have kept him to use him when needed, we would have done that. But then we would have prevented a driver from pursuing his dream. He meant a lot to Mercedes with his Formula E title and he was also excellent as a reserve driver. That’s why we wanted to continue to help him.”
De Vries will be teaming up with AlphaTauri this season as he competes in his first full season in F1. It will be interesting to see how his first season fares as it could determine a role in the senior Red Bull team as well.
