"Don't think or stress about it too much"- Max Verstappen's crucial advice to Nyck De Vries before 2022 F1 Italian GP

2019 FIA Formula 2 Champion Nyck De Vries was given some words of wisdom by championship leader Max Verstappen ahead of the 2022 Italian Grand Prix last weekend. The 27-year-old took Alex Albon's seat at Williams. Albon suffered from appendicitis and was unable to take part in the Grand Prix. Ahead of the race, Max Verstappen told De Vries to "enjoy" his first race rather than stressing too much about it.

As reported by RacingNews365.com, Verstappen advised De Vries:

"First of all, enjoy it, and don't think or stress about it too much."

Nyck De Vries went on to put up an impressive performance in Monza and secured a P9 finish. He so became the 67th different driver to score a championship point in F1. Speaking to De Telegraaf, Williams team boss Jost Capito described the Dutchman's debut as a "good audition":

“Whether this was a good audition from him - yes, of course you can put it that way. That he is capable of this is exactly what I had thought beforehand. You depend on several factors for a seat, but Nyck showed the entire paddock what he can do.”

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Lewis Hamilton describes Max Verstappen's Red Bull as "almost unbeatable"

Lewis Hamilton believes that his 2021 title rival Max Verstappen is "almost unbeatable" in his 2022 challenger. He emphasized that the chances of beating the Red Bull to win a race are rather slim.

As reported by ESPN, the Briton admitted that Mercedes have a significant performance deficit to Red Bull this season:

"We have to be realistic. That Red Bull is almost unbeatable. It's going to take some real doing to beat that car. Performance-wise we have not caught them, and we don't have upgrades coming to enable us to overtake them. So it's going to take some fortune going our way to win."

Max Verstappen currently leads the drivers' standings and could mathematically win his second consecutive F1 world championship title in the upcoming race in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is down in sixth in the championship with 168 points. He's a proper 80 points clear of Lando Norris in seventh and will be looking to mount a stellar attack in Singapore to close the 19-point gap to Carlos Sainz in fifth.