Nyck de Vries has earned praise from the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen as the wait continues for his 2023 plans to be revealed.
The Dutchman has never before held a Formula 1 race seat, but that looks set to change in just a few months' time. He is now being considered by three different teams in silly season's latest twist.
De Vries produced a very impressive performance on his F1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month. And he did so after stepping up at short notice to replace Alex Albon, after the Williams driver was diagnosed with appendicitis.
Having been spotted last week in the company of Helmut Marko, he has emerged as a candidate to sign for Red Bull. If he were to do so, he would presumably drive for AlphaTauri next season, allowing Pierre Gasly to confirm his desired move to Alpine.
Toto Wolff has previously said he would not stand in the way of the Dutchman if he secured a regular drive, despite being on the books at Mercedes. And it seems Hamilton would be just as happy to see the 27-year-old on the grid next year.
"Incredibly happy for Nyck, I'm really proud of him," said the seven-time world champion. "He's such a good lad, a good human, and he's been a good part of our team working with us. For Nyck to have jumped in and finished in the top 10, that's mega for your first race."
Verstappen also had a lot of nice things to say about De Vries, who may be a colleague from next season as well as a "great friend". The Red Bull star said: "I think he did a great job from the things I saw, also in terms of defending. He just kept his cool, didn't make mistakes and I'm very happy for him to score the points. It's impressive, of course, in your first race."
Speaking to Dutch TV show Humberto op Zaterdag at the weekend, De Vries confirmed he had met with Marko. However, despite apparently being chased by up to three different teams who want his signature, he denied being in a position of "luxury" when it comes to his racing future.
"Largely, that is beyond my control," he said. "I have been in talks with Williams for a long time and I was also able to make my debut there last weekend. That would be a logical step. Alpine I have been in contact with since July, and I will test for them in Budapest next week. I will fly there on Monday. And as the media had noticed yesterday, I went to Austria to meet Helmut Marko."
