The Nyck De Vries Formula 1 saga: the now-28-year-old Mercedes reserve driver subbed in for an ailing Alex Albon at Williams for the 2022 Italian GP. Scoring points on his debut, Red Bull showed interest in him for the second AlphaTauri seat for 2023. The Dutchman got the official call-up but couldn’t meet the expectations he set after his Monza debut. Red Bull management showed him the door after just 10 races, making his a Red Bull reject. While De Vries blamed Red Bull for not giving him enough time, turns out he should really be blaming Lewis Hamilton.

Following his unceremonious ouster, De Vries didn’t leave without hitting Red Bull where it hurt, just like it did to him. Obviously furious, the Dutchman revealed Red Bull broke its promise to give him the seat alongside Max Verstappen for 2025. Given how he performed relative to some big rookie seasons like Lewis Hamilton’s & Verstappen’s himself, there was little chance of RBR being considerate of him.

After failing to match Lewis Hamilton’s benchmark, Nyck De Vries’ gives a life update

Hamilton arguably had the best rookie season in F1 history. After joining the sport in 2007 with McLaren, he partnered with two-time champion Fernando Alonso and gave him a run for his money. Throughout the season-long championship battle (yes, he fought for the title in his rookie season) against Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, he amassed several records—the most consecutive podium finishes from debut (9), the joint most wins in a debut season (4), and the most points in a debut season (109).

Reflecting on Hamilton’s remarkable start to an even more remarkable (ongoing) career, Sky Sports presenter Karun Chandok said, “Lewis’ 2007 rookie year remains one of the most remarkable seasons the sport has EVER seen.” Because of how well the then-22-year-old did, rookies nowadays have that Hamilton benchmark they can only dream of meeting. De Vries couldn’t live up to his own expectations, let alone match Hamilton’s 2007 season. As a result, when his performances didn’t get any better as the season progressed, his impending ouster came earlier than expected.

Now that he has time away from the pressures of being a Red Bull-affiliated driver, De Vries shared an Instagram carousel of all he’s been up to since Daniel Ricciardo replaced him at AplhaTauri. Captioning the post “Life 😊,” the first picture shows the song Don’t Stop Believin’ playing during a car ride, probably pointing to how he hasn’t given up on his F1 dream.

Read More: Red Bull Reject Nyck de Vries’ Mind-Blowing Expertise on $150,000 Component Left Yuki Tsunoda Comparing Him With 3x Champion

Other photos show him spending time with friends, including Verstappen. Although he seems to be enjoying his time off, he would be wondering how he could’ve lived up to Hamilton’s benchmark. If not that, at least to another rookie making waves.

Is a 2023 F1 rookie close to following in Lewis Hamilton’s footsteps?

Oscar Piastri, the Melbourne-born McLaren driver, has already proved he’s championship material. Like Hamilton, he joined McLaren to partner a more experienced driver (Lando Norris, in his case). Putting aside the MCL60’s abysmal pace at the beginning of the season, he matched Norris’ pace from the get-go. Despite the upgrades, the MCL60 isn’t good enough to help the young Aussie compete for wins. But if it had been, there’s no doubt he’d be taking the fight to Verstappen, just as Hamilton did with Alonso and Raikkonen. 

While his season hasn’t been as good as Hamilton’s 2007 season, he’s still one of the best rookies F1 has seen in recent years. Besides his on-track potential, Piastri has more in common with the seven-time champion than just McLaren being their first F1 team. In an interview where Piastri opened up about how he fell in love with motorsport, he said, “One day, my father bought me a go-kart, but even before that, when I was six years old, I was racing with radio-controlled (RC) cars.” Sound familiar? That’s precisely how Hamilton fell in love with racing as well. 

Do you think there could’ve been any way Nyck De Vries could’ve lived up to Lewis Hamilton’s 2007 season?

WATCH THIS STORY | How Oscar Piastri Has Made a Scintillating Rise to the Pinnacle of Motorsport