De Vries: “We’re here to win”

Nyck de Vries may be a self-confessed lover of small towns and villages (more on that in our Road to F1 podcast), but he’ll be glad to see the back of them in Great Britain, following a “very tough weekend” in rural Northamptonshire.

Despite his frustrations in Round 7, the Championship leader still departed Silverstone with a smile on his face, having maximised the potential of his ART machine during a weekend where they lacked the blistering pace of recent races.

A driver’s ability to draw that extra 1% when things are going against them may well be the mark of a title contender, but De Vries is “here to win,” and in Silverstone, he had to settle for less.

“The approach is the same for every race weekend. We're here to win,” he asserted. “Unfortunately, this weekend we were not competitive enough to [win]. In that case you need to try and bring home as many points as possible. We do that through fighting.”

Having endured a disappointing sixth place finish in the Feature Race, the ART man was a party to the breath-taking opening lap of the Sprint, making the most of Callum Ilott’s struggles to get off the line and leaping to second.

The 24-year-old looked to have turned a corner in Round 7, but he was unable to sustain that momentum and quickly lost P2 to eventual winner Jack Aitken, who used the pace of his Campos to jump ahead. The Dutchman clung onto third, but didn’t have the power to challenge the Carlin of Louis Deletraz ahead of him.

De Vries continued: “It was a very intense race for me, not only fighting, but also managing the balance with everything I have in my hands to influence it. It was very intense but I think we should be satisfied with P3.

“I think all in all it's been a very tough weekend for us. Both races were very intense towards the end. Early in the race I was just counting down almost and still trying to hold on and keep up the pace.”

Consistency and maximisation of points has been key to the Dutchman’s title challenge. De Vries has achieved a podium finish in each of the last six rounds and it’s this type of form which has seen him build up a 31-point lead at the top, in a notoriously competitive championship.

“It was a difficult weekend for us but I think we should be satisfied with the podium today because we maximised our points from a difficult situation. We did a bit of damage limitation. It just proves that it's very difficult and very competitive. You have to keep on pushing all the time to stay at the front.”