2019 Champion De Vries set for Mercedes FP1 appearance at French Grand Prix

Nyck de Vries will make his second official run in a Formula 1 session on Friday, with the 2019 Formula 2 Champion featuring for Mercedes in Le Castellet.

The team has announced that the Dutch driver will be climbing into Lewis Hamilton’s W13 for the opening Free Practice session at Paul Ricard.

As part of the two mandatory young driver sessions F1 teams must run this season, the Mercedes reserve driver made his FP1 debut with Williams in Barcelona earlier this season. The 27-year-old replaced Alex Albon and ended the session ahead of former F2 title rival Nicholas Latifi.

"Nyck is replacing Lewis in first Practice this weekend, as part of the allocated sessions for young drivers this year. So, we're looking forward to seeing how he gets on,” Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff said.

Following a dominant display on his quest to the F2 title with ART Grand Prix, de Vries has gone on to make a name for himself as a Formula E Champion. Last year, he became the first Dutch driver to be crowned World Champion in single-seater motorsport.