Damon Hill believes Williams have an easy decision to make in terms of the 2023 driver lineup in the wake of an eye-catching Formula 1 debut from Nyck de Vries.
The Dutchman was a late substitute for Alex Albon, who was ruled out of the race as he needed surgery after an appendicitis diagnosis. De Vries took part in FP3 and qualifying, before starting his debut F1 race from eighth place thanks to grid penalties for others.
And it was certainly a debut to remember, as he lost just one position to finish ninth – the best individual result for Williams all season. He was also voted driver of the day by fans and, most importantly, gave a superb audition as he seeks a seat in the sport for the first time.
Hill believes de Vries did more than enough to prove to Williams that he would be a better option than Nicholas Latifi, who has struggled to make an impact in F1. The Canadian is the only regular driver this season yet to score a point, and the 1996 champion believes his days are numbered.
"I’m sorry but this is the way it is," Hill said on Sky Sports F1. "In this case, Nicholas hasn't got the pace he needs to stay in that position in Formula 1. He's had some good moments but along comes a guy [de Vries] who's not even driven in a Grand Prix before and he's done a fantastic job.
"I know he had grid penalties and stuff like that, which helped him up the grid, but he still delivered in qualifying and didn't really make a mistake. He's done enough for us to be talking about him, he's got Toto [Wolff] talking about him. That's what you need to do to become a Formula 1 driver."
Hill was referring to comments from Mercedes chief Wolff after the race. The Austrian said de Vries, who has been working as a reserve driver for the Silver Arrows, "put down a marker" with his performance at Monza and said the Dutchman should be on the grid next year.
"Nyck deserves to have a place in F1 – he has shown that because of the limited experience he had from driving around with the rake in FP1," said Wolff. "Then he was thrown into the cold in FP3, not even at the beginning but at the end – that is a line in the sand. It puts down a marker.
"I think we forget how he dominated in F2. He was absolutely great in his first Formula E championship when he won the championship. He's going to do what the car is capable of delivering. He's for sure going to extract what is there."
