Mercedes announces young driver to take over Lewis Hamilton's wheel at FP1 of 2022 F1 French GP

Mercedes reserve driver Nyck de Vries is set to drive Lewis Hamilton’s car during FP1 for the 2022 F1 French GP later this weekend, the team announced earlier today. In a statement posted on their social media handles, the team said:

“This weekend Nyck de Vries will be taking the wheel of W13 for FP1.”

“Lewis [Hamilton] has chosen this weekend to fulfil the first of two young driver sessions required by all teams this season. George [Russell] has selected one later in the year.”

Starting this season, F1 teams are required to run ‘young drivers’ at a minimum of two free practice sessions within the season. Mercedes seem to have allowed Hamilton and Russell to decide when and where they want to do so.

Often touted as a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Nyck de Vries has been with the German team as a junior driver since 2019. He currently shares the team’s reserve driver duties with former McLaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne.

He is also currently competing in Formula E for the Silver Arrows and won the series' inaugural FIA Formula E World Championship last season. Following the announcement of the FP1 outing, de Vries thanked the team in a statement posted on his social media handles and said:

“Driving FP1 for Mercedes AMG F1 in Paul Ricard this weekend. Thank you.”

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Former F1 world champion predicts a Lewis Hamilton victory at the 2022 F1 French GP

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill has claimed that there is a high chance for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton to take their first victory of the season at the 2022 French GP, given their improved form in the last few rounds.

Hill expects a clash between championship contenders Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc at Paul Ricard, potentially taking each other out and thereby paving the way for Lewis Hamilton to cruise to victory. Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, the Briton said:

“I’m gonna go with Lewis Hamilton.”

“We’ve been talking about how well [Verstappen and Leclerc] have been getting on. I think that first corner is going to be a bit tricky. Let’s say Charles loses his front wing or Max gets a puncture or something like that.”

Despite battling for the championship, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have so far been fair towards each other on track. This has led many to predict that such behavior wouldn’t last, especially as the season progresses.

Meanwhile, Hill was also optimistic of Hamilton’s chances on pure pace alone, believing that the Silver Arrows might “spring a surprise” in France to catch Red Bull and Ferrari off guard.