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Writer's pictureJames Townley

Did Nyck De Vries prove that Formula 1 is more physical than Formula E?

After Nyck De Vries stood in for Alex Albon at the Italian Grand Prix, the Dutchman complained about his shoulders after the race. Did this prove that Formula E is less physical than Formula 1?


Nyck De Vries has raced in Formula E since he was announced as the 2019-20 driver for the new Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team. He was partnered with former McLaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne. In his first season, the Dutchman finished 11th in the standings with 60 points achieved throughout the season.


In the 2020-21 season, De Vries started the season strong with a pole position at the opening race and led every lap to win his first race in Formula E. De Vries ended the season with 2 wins and the Drivers World Championship. In the 2021-2022 season, Nyck finished 9th in the standings and his future is currently unknown.


When news came out on Saturday from Williams that their driver Alex Albon had appendicitis, a replacement was needed for the Thai driver. De Vries was already at Monza as he had done FP1 in the Aston Martin and could therefore stand in for Albon.


De Vries took part in FP3 but was late starting as the Williams crew needed to get the car ready. When Nyck did get out on track, he finished the session 14th, which was one position behind teammate Nicholas Latifi. Then in qualifying, Nyck De Vries out-qualified Latifi and got himself into Q2 finishing the session P13 ahead of the 2 Alfa Romeo's. In addition, a total of 8 drivers received penalties for changing engine/gearbox components outside of the allocated range. This promoted De Vries to P8 for the race the next day.

In the race, De Vries held his own challenging the likes of the Alpine's and Alpha Tauri's and finished a remarkable P9. This meant after 1 race, De Vries had achieved more points than Latifi in 16 races. Post race once De Vries had parked up in parc ferme, he came onto the radio to ask, "can someone help me?... I can't lift my arms anymore..." De Vries eventually got help but did he prove that Formula 1 is more physical than Formula E?


What do you think?

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