McLaren junior driver Nyck de Vries says Formula 2 will be his "prime focus" in 2017, as he prepares to split duties between competing in the single-seater category and his role with McLaren-Honda's Formula 1 operation.
De Vries, a long-term member of the operation's young driver programme, will graduate into Formula 2 this year with Rapax, following on from a season in GP3, in which he placed sixth with two wins.
The Dutch driver will also continue his duties with McLaren, conducting extensive simulator work, but says that his Formula 2 commitments will take priority, as he bids to emulate Stoffel Vandoorne, who won the title under the series' GP2 guise in 2015.
"I'm going to have a busy year, but that's great," de Vries explained in an interview with McLaren's website.
"It's exactly what Stoffel did in 2014 and 2015. He raced very successfully in GP2 in those two years, while also doing a lot of sim work for McLaren.
"Obviously, my Formula 2 racing will be my prime focus – the McLaren guys understand that and in fact encourage that prioritisation – but, even so, I'm going to be very involved in McLaren's sim programme and I'm glad about that because I really enjoy it.
"I work really hard at my McLaren sim work, because it's important to the McLaren car's development and because I rate McLaren's sim team very highly. It's also very good for me from a learning perspective.
"Working in the McLaren sim immerses me in the world of Formula 1, at the heart of one of the best teams in the business, and of course it's the closest you can get to driving a Formula 1 car other than the real thing."
De Vries also shied away from making any firm predictions for his first season in the rebranded Formula 2 category this year, but is nonetheless hopeful of competing towards the front of the grid.
"I'm confident that the Rapax team is ambitious and professional, and that their facilities are first-class, and that we're here to win," he commented.
"That's got to be our aim. I'm not making any predictions – and remember I'm a rookie – but we're focused and ready and I intend to contribute a lot straight away, even though I'll necessarily also be learning a lot in the early races, for obvious reasons."
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