Nyck de Vries has documented the severe changes he’s had to make to his winter training programme ahead of making his full-time Formula 1 debut in 2023.
The Dutch driver was rewarded with a seat at AlphaTauri alongside Yuki Tsunoda for the upcoming season after impressing Red Bull’s motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, last year with an impressive drive to ninth at Monza when he stood in for the unwell Alex Albon.
Having moved across to Formula E, where he became champion in 2021, after claiming the Formula 2 title in 2019, de Vries has opened up on the contrasting fitness demands that have been placed on him as a driver through the respective series he has tackled thus far in his career.
“Basically, my journey up until Formula 2, I’ve always been quite committed on training,” de Vries told the AlphaTauri Tauri Talk podcast.
“I enjoyed training, [I] always trained with a coach. But then when I moved into Formula E, away from Formula 2 and Formula 1, the necessity of being fit just becomes less important.
“Suddenly, a lot of other things become more important in life. You just prioritise according to what is most important for the performance on track.
“Frankly speaking, in the past two or three years, I’ve mainly been exercising how I like, joining gym classes for fun. I’ve always been active and training, but never really with a routine.”
One such change that de Vries has made to get in shape ahead of pre-season testing getting underway in Bahrain at the end of February is working alongside Pierre Gasly’s former trainer, Pyry Samela.
De Vries cut an exhausted figure and required the help of the Williams mechanics to haul him out of the car after his points-scoring heroics in Monza and the new AlphaTauri recruit has praised the immediate impact Samela has had on getting him up to speed.
“Joining Pyry has changed [my routine] massively,” de Vries claimed.
“I think that the importance of being physically prepared for Formula 1 is crucial. It’s not important, but it’s crucial, so I’m very happy that I have Pyry alongside me.
“He has a lot of knowledge and experience in the sport. He has been with the team for many years, and he knows exactly what it takes and requires to be ready for Formula 1.
“I’m very happy that he can guide me and prepare me for that, and I fully trust him to do the job.”
Despite being put through a strenuous training programme, de Vries has admitted how he has relished the tough work being put in behind the scenes to ensure he is physically fit enough to withstand the latest era of heavier F1 machinery on a consistent basis.
“I was going to say [Salmela] takes me through the pain but, actually, when we go through proper pain, we share it, which is very, very kind of him!”
“Every painful interval session or every very heavy session we’ve had, we’ve definitely done together, so that’s been encouraging.
“But the preparation has been very different to any other season prior to this and, actually, I’m loving it.
“I love living like an athlete, putting the work [and] the time into our preparation and just giving everything we have to achieve the best possible outcome together” he concluded.
Discussion about this post