91 replies to this topic

[gillesthegenius]

This is the 15 year old Dutch starlet, Nyck de Vries, who is part of the Mclaren young driver developement programme and is apparently managed by Lewis Hamilton's father Anthony. His
site touts him as the most brilliant driver of his generation.

Is there anyone out here who has actually watched the kid race? If so, is he that good? Could he be the one who, god willing, challenges the likes of Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso in the near future?

[jk]

Watched him become kart World Champion last year.
Obviously he has talent, but then many karters do. It is way too early to tout him as the next Vettel.

[Rob]

Watched him become kart World Champion last year.
Obviously he has talent, but then many karters do. It is way too early to tout him as the next Vettel.

Everyone thought that Liuzzi was the next big thing when he was the karting WC. He was good, but not one of the greats.

Although, having said that, the Dutch are probably overdue a top driver.

[DarthWillie]

Everyone thought that Liuzzi was the next big thing when he was the karting WC. He was good, but not one of the greats.

Although, having said that, the Dutch are probably overdue a top driver.

Don't get Frans started

Nyck seems to be very good and have potential to grow. But he is still young, having said that, Hamilton has shown that being member of the McLaren young driver programme can help.

as a dutchman, he seems to have the greatest potential at the moment.

[Fastcake]

Well he certainly appears to be very talented, although that is only at the Karting level of course so far. We have seen drivers fall off as they progress before, but we'll just have to see what he does in the big cars.

Still, last time McLaren picked up a young karting star Hamilton came out of it...

[Lights]

Giedo van der Garde also won the karting world championship. 10 years later ... probably a 4th season in GP2, perhaps a HRT seat if his sponsors pay enough.

[DarthWillie]

Giedo van der Garde also won the karting world championship. 10 years later ... probably a 4th season in GP2, perhaps a HRT seat if his sponsors pay enough.

Guido has never ever impressed me. Ever. Without his billionaire father in law is seriously doubt he would be around anymore.

But your right, lots of things can happen with Nyck, but it is better to have some dutch hope than none at all

[f1fan1998]

it helps to be small in stature in motorsport, but unfortunately he is too small. he will struggle to compete physically in the coming years unless he 'beefs' up a bit. having said that - he is very good.

[Richard T]

it helps to be small in stature in motorsport, but unfortunately he is too small. he will struggle to compete physically in the coming years unless he 'beefs' up a bit. having said that - he is very good.

Indeed, especially in karting when the huge amount of mechanical grip will make the car bounce if you are to tall. I was reasonably tall when I was driving karts, still fighting at the top but you know - just a little bit to tall to reach this extra tenth or two on a hot day..

[dc21]

Nyck's certainly a very good young driver; outstanding in fact. But the Karting World Championships are not what they used to be. The professional drivers and the manufacturers don't race in it anymore (the likes of Catt, Ardigo, Fore etc). I think they had so few entries for Super KF / KF1 they had to run the event for KF2's.

Further, the McLaren Young Driver Development Programme is not what it used to be. The level of support Hamilton received was - and still is - unprecedented. McLaren are now providing very little (if any) financial support. Of course, De Vries does not need financial support but....

I think the fact a lot of people miss is that, whilst you certainly have to be talented to compete up the front, you climb the rungs of the ladder to F1 by writing cheques. If you have the money to get to GP2, you will end up racing in GP2. I'm fairly certain we will see De Vries in GP2. Whether he is good enough for an F1 race seat is for the F1 teams to decide.

Regarding his physical size, driving karts at the European/World level is more physical than anything he will drive after; at least until the GP2 level.

[rolf123]

Guido has never ever impressed me. Ever. Without his billionaire father in law is seriously doubt he would be around anymore.

But your right, lots of things can happen with Nyck, but it is better to have some dutch hope than none at all

Without their doting fathers spoiling their brats, none of them would have made it as far as they did.


I'm always impressed with drivers who can use commercial deals to get them a seat. It sometimes shows business acumen.

Eddie Irvine was great. A millionaire from stock investing before he even landed his Jordan seat.

[Peat]

He's obviously talented, no doubt. It's the guidance and teams he is placed with in the future that will determine whether he makes it or not.

Sucess in karting isn't the barometer it used to be either. It's the same as any other catergory in motorsport - money talks.

[William Hunt]

Although, having said that, the Dutch are probably overdue a top driver.

there are some very talented Dutch guys rising up the ranks:

Robin Frijns (European F. BMW & European F. Renault 2.0 champion!)
Nigel Melker (GP3, GP2 next year and part of the Mercedes familly)

[SpaMaster]

Things change a lot when you get to more advanced machineries. Driving skills and requirements also change a lot with the remaining growth. He is good right now, and has a chance to be good in the future, that's all. I don't think one can say much more than that. We will know only if he is able to perform like this as climbs up the ladder in upper series.

[Jackmancer]

Things change a lot when you get to more advanced machineries. Driving skills and requirements also change a lot with the remaining growth. He is good right now, and has a chance to be good in the future, that's all. I don't think one can say much more than that. We will know only if he is able to perform like this as climbs up the ladder in upper series.

Jep - just remember Jan Magnussen.

[Tenmantaylor]

The new Jos Verstappen?

[lustigson]

The new Jos Verstappen?

Let's hope not. At least for Nyck's sake.

(I can't stand the spelling of his name, I have to admit. What's wrong with 'Nick'? The i even has a dot on top of it!)

[dau]

The new Jos Verstappen?

That's a bit unfair. This kid seems to have talent.

[gillesthegenius]

That's a bit unfair. This kid seems to have talent.

Myself thinks so too.

[midgrid]

The new Jos Verstappen?

We already have Max Verstappen in the works.

[Tenmantaylor]

I find it heart warming that the majority of you saw the irony in my post.

Hope the kid does well.

Edited by Tenmantaylor, 21 November 2011 - 16:11.

[gio66]

Amazing first quali for Nyck

[mistareno]

Amazing first quali for Nyck

I'll admit to not really knowing much about the quality of drivers in Formula Renault, but half a second gap to the next man seems to be a pretty good result for a formula series.

[Richard T]

I'll admit to not really knowing much about the quality of drivers in Formula Renault, but half a second gap to the next man seems to be a pretty good result for a formula series.

Standard is quite high with for example Red bull having their young guns in FR2.0 and many previous Formula BMW europe drivers as well. Frijns was champ last year IIRC

[gio66]

Nyck de Vries: “I asked my team not to give me any information during the session as I wanted to concentrate on my driving 100%. I felt I was putting in good laps and that paid off. Honestly, I didn’t expect to achieve this result so early on in the season.”

[olliek88]

Meh, not bad....................

[rhukkas]

Nyck de Vries is 100% the real deal.

[noikeee]

That is extremely impressive. The FR2.0 Eurocup is a little early for a true indicator of F1 potential, but it's probably the most competitive series at that level, and the frontrunners usually move directly to World Series by Renault or have a little stopgap in F3. To blitz the field by 0.5 seconds in his first qualy is superb. The kid has just had his 17th birthday..

To put things in perspective F1 driver Jean Eric Vergne was 2nd in that championship just 3 years ago, and Ricciardo too finished 2nd the year before (3 points behind Williams tester Valtteri Bottas).

[Ross Stonefeld]

Jesus people. They do split qualifying groups in that series

[P123]

Jesus people. They do split qualifying groups in that series

0.5s faster than anybody else in his quali group is still an impressive result. A good start, and one to watch.

[noikeee]

I didn't notice that. I do realise it's just a qualy session, nevertheless it's still very impressive for a rookie.

[gio66]

Jesus people. They do split qualifying groups in that series

You can laugh as well if it makes you happy, but it's still third overall, not too bad for a rookie.

[IceSkyrim]

So... Lewis days are numbered at McLaren

If Nyck does a Kimi and jumps straight from F-Renault to F1 ;)

Nyck "The Devil" de Vries ^TM

Edited by IceSkyrim, 05 May 2012 - 12:20.

[gio66]

Kvyat won the first race. Podium for Nick.

[rhukkas]

Nyck is the best driver I've seen, ever, full stop. Once he gets his first few car races under his belt he will be unstoppable.

Edited by rhukkas, 05 May 2012 - 12:18.

[Ross Stonefeld]

We'll find out in time. But there have been lots of karting amazeballs that were less "zomg!" once they got going.

[gio66]

We'll find out in time. But there have been lots of karting amazeballs that were less "zomg!" once they got going.

It is no good reason to mock users.

1 - Daniil Kvyat - Koiranen – 8 laps 17'00"571
2 - Nyck De Vries - R Ace - 0"678
3 - Stoffel Vandoorne – Kaufmann – 1”786
4 - Norman Nato - RC Formula - 2"239
5 - Paul Loup Chatin - Tech 1 - 3"233
6 - Oliver Rowland - Fortec - 3"785
7 - Javier Tarancon - RC Formula - 4"423
8 - Miki Weckstrom - KTR - 5"160
9 - Guilherme Silva - Interwetten - 5"643
10 - Alex Riberas – Kaufmann – 6”191
11 - Stefan Wackerbauer - Koiranen - 6"925
12 - Andrea Pizzitola - R Ace - 7"676
13 - Timmy Hansen - Interwetten - 8"204
14 - Mikko Pakari – Fortec – 8”654
15 - Patrick Kujala - Koiranen - 10"041
16 - Matthieu Vaxiviere - Tech 1 - 10"800
17 - Roman Mavlanov - Tech 1 - 11"344
18 - Ed Jones - Fortec - 12"494
19 - Esteban Ocon - Koiranen - 13"138
20 – Kevin Giovesi – Epic – 14”141
21 - Alex Albon - Epic - 15"152
22 - Ignazio D'Agosto - KTR - 15"665
23 - Alessandro Latif - Atech Reid - 16"532
24 - Leo Roussel - Arta - 17"094
25 – Christof Von Grunigen – Epic – 21”117
26 - William Vermont - Arta – 1 lap

Edited by gio66, 05 May 2012 - 13:02.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Great start. But I'm not crowning him World Champion or predicting the year, yet.

[gio66]

Great start. But I'm not crowning him World Champion or predicting the year, yet.

Who did it?

[olliek88]

The kid seems like a mega talent but theres along way to go in his career. Either way he certainly knows how to moan like a racing driver!

[midgrid]

Another good young prospect is the fifteen(!)-year-old Mathéo Tuscher, currently second in the Formula Two championship.

[gio66]

second row on quali-2 (2nd overall)

[Risil]

Another good young prospect is the fifteen(!)-year-old Mathéo Tuscher, currently second in the Formula Two championship.

What is this Formula Two you speak of

[scheivlak]

What is this Formula Two you speak of

The FIA one http://forix.autospo...&...mp;c=30&s=0

And yes, it's not exactly like http://www.formula2.net/F270_Table.htm or http://www.formula2....F271_Tables.htm

Edited by scheivlak, 06 May 2012 - 22:43.

[rhukkas]

Another name to keep an eye on - Beitske Visser - real deal. A lot of people are keeping an eye on her because she is the only lass that actually has won and competed at the highest levels.

Edited by rhukkas, 07 May 2012 - 11:14.

[EightGear]

Another name to keep an eye on - Beitske Visser - real deal. A lot of people are keeping an eye on her because she is the only lass that actually has won and competed at the highest levels.

She won both races in which she competed in the Dutch Supercar Challenge last season, but I think every karting talent would. That series mainly consists of gentelman drivers with loads of money.
But because she is a girl it got picked up by the national media like no other karting driver ever was.

So yes, she absolutely can drive very fast but I'm not convinced yet.

[rhukkas]

She won both races in which she competed in the Dutch Supercar Challenge last season, but I think every karting talent would. That series mainly consists of gentelman drivers with loads of money.
But because she is a girl it got picked up by the national media like no other karting driver ever was.

So yes, she absolutely can drive very fast but I'm not convinced yet.

She beat people in karts Schumacher could only dream of beating (and he admitted he can't beat these guys). Though she never managed a major international title, she was always there or there abouts. it's a much tougher grid than your average single-seater grid. She has been the world class female kart driver since Lotta Hellberg. There haven't been many young drivers who've been able to take it to the actual karting professionals girl or boy.

She also won her first Formuila ADAC race yesterday after a big shunt on Saturday. The guy that looks after McLaren's young drivers has even stated she's the best female driver he's ever seen. This girl is the real deal regardless of her gender i'd have her on the talent radar. She isn't Susie Wolf or another 'bird'. She's a bloody good driver, full stop.

Edited by rhukkas, 07 May 2012 - 14:48.

[EightGear]

She beat people in karts Schumacher could only dream of beating (and he admitted he can't beat these guys). Though she never managed a major international title, she was always there or there abouts. it's a much tougher grid than your average single-seater grid. She has been the world class female kart driver since Lotta Hellberg. There haven't been many young drivers who've been able to take it to the actual karting professionals girl or boy.

She also won her first Formuila ADAC race yesterday after a big shunt on Saturday. The guy that looks after McLaren's young drivers has even stated she's the best female driver he's ever seen. This girl is the real deal regardless of her gender i'd have her on the talent radar. She isn't Susie Wolf or another 'bird'. She's a bloody good driver, full stop.

Yes of course she is fantastic, I never said she was bad.;)

I just feel the whole DSC-thing was overhyped, regardless of how impressive she was. It was brilliant for marketing though!

Exiting times for us Dutchies. Robin Frijns, Nyck de Vries, Kevin Abbring, Beitske Visser....

Edited by EightGear, 07 May 2012 - 14:55.

[rhukkas]

Yes of course she is fantastic, I never said she was bad.;)

I just feel the whole DSC-thing was overhyped, regardless of how impressive she was. It was brilliant for marketing though!

Exiting times for us Dutchies. Robin Frijns, Nyck de Vries, Kevin Abbring, Beitske Visser....

Her performance in the DSC-thing is irrelevant to her success from karting which is far more impressive. She never quite had that extra bit to win a major championship, but the fact she was there and competing at the front is more than proof of her talent. While others of her age were racing in classes with their peers she was racing the actual professionals. This isn't a gender thing because there weren't many other young drivers, girl or boy, that were competing with the professionals as she was.

[rhukkas]

Yes of course she is fantastic, I never said she was bad.;)

I just feel the whole DSC-thing was overhyped, regardless of how impressive she was. It was brilliant for marketing though!

Exiting times for us Dutchies. Robin Frijns, Nyck de Vries, Kevin Abbring, Beitske Visser....

Her performance in the DSC-thing is irrelevant to her success from karting which is far more impressive. She never quite had that extra bit to win a major championship, but the fact she was there and competing at the front is more than proof of her talent. While others of her age were racing in classes with their peers she was racing the actual professionals in KZ. This isn't a gender thing because there weren't many other young drivers, girl or boy, that were competing with the professionals as she was.

And yes the Dutch shoul db very excited De Vries is going to be a megastar.

Edited by rhukkas, 07 May 2012 - 15:12.