De Vries will never forget Mercedes: 'I am grateful for the opportunity'

Nyck de Vries got to make his last appearance with Mercedes in Mexico on Friday. Replacing George Russell, he worked through the first free practice and then said goodbye to the team. In Mercedes' press release, he reiterated that the racing team had given him a lot.

The driver, who will be in action for AlphaTauri next season, looks back on his last job for Mercedes with a positive feeling. With an eighteenth time, he finished at the back, but that had its reasons. After all, Mercedes was focusing with De Vries on developing the car for next season.

"It marks the end of my time in the car for the team," De Vries stated. "But I'm happy, as we ended it well and we had a great time working together. I'm grateful for the opportunity Mercedes has given me, allowing me to learn a lot and build relationships within the team."

De Vries has been the team's reserve driver for the past two seasons. In the first free practice of this year's Spanish Grand Prix, he made his first appearance in Formula 1, but for Williams. He then drove the first free practice session at the French GP for Mercedes and the first session of the Italian GP for Aston Martin. Replacing Alexander Albon, he took the spot at Williams on the same race weekend in Italy.