Start of the weekend in France without Hamilton, Mercedes deploys mandatory substitute

After a one-week break, twenty of the world’s fastest monoposts will take to the track again, at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. And in the first practice session, the Mercedes pairing will be changed as part of the rules-set junior grid. Next to George Russell will sit Nyck de Vries, for whom this will be his second experience of this year’s monoblocs.

De Vries made his practice debut this year in the Williams cockpit, beating his provisional team-mate Nicholas Latifi in Spain.

At the time, his place at the famous stable was still heavily speculated. But now it looks like last year’s F2 winner Oscar Piastri could be joining Alexander Albon. Formula 1 has activated the budget cap rule and every team must now be financially stable.

This means that even though Latifi is currently supporting Williams financially, it is quite likely that the British stable will no longer need his money. And objectively, it can be noted that Piastri possesses a truly great driving talent, and Latifi has not been posting any significant results.

“We are looking forward to seeing how he (de Vries) performs,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told the team website . De Vries also tested the car at the post-season race in Abu Dhabi last year, so he is well used to the fast monoposto.

The Dutch driver’s qualities are definitely high. De Vries has a Formula 2 championship to his name, and last season he was Formula E champion.

For Mercedes, every lap is important in the current season, in which the German stable is gaining data that is already bringing visible improvement. The German stable is currently in a comfortable third place in the Constructors’ Cup, and with a bit of luck they can also try to fight for the race win.

That’s why de Vries’ performance will also be crucial. Although it’s “only” the first practice session, data will always come in handy. And should the Dutchman produce a solid result, he could be back in contention for the Williams seat, which is probably the hottest commodity in F1 at the moment.

F1, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1