De Vries is about to race on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the primary time, whereas his countryman Verstappen received on the venue in 2022.

Previous to this, the Purple Bull driver put in an unforgettable qualifying lap on the circuit in 2021, the place he seemed set for pole place earlier than dramatically crashing on the ultimate nook. Regardless of the best way it ended, de Vries was impressed with Verstappen’s lap.

De Vries praises Verstappen’s ‘very spectacular’ lap

Following the information that Verstappen would miss Thursday’s media actions in Jeddah as a consequence of a abdomen bug – together with his arrival delayed till Friday – de Vries was requested whether or not he had had any contact with the World Champion.

“Really, we exchanged messages this morning,” de Vries advised media, together with RacingNews365.com.

“However that was about his qualifying lap in ’21, not about his abdomen bug, so I am certain he shall be wonderful.”

By way of why they have been discussing Verstappen’s ill-fated 2021 qualifying run, de Vries defined: “I simply thought it was a really spectacular lap.

“I used to be watching it again once more and we talked about it. He joked about [the final corner]!

“However I used to be simply extra type of impressed by [how] he might see from the surface how aggressive and attacking it was.”

Deal with constructing monitor time for de Vries

The Jeddah monitor has seen some adjustments since Verstappen’s qualifying lap in 2021 and, amid solutions that monitor limits might turn into a problem on the venue in 2023, de Vries is eager to focus extra on constructing his expertise on the circuit.

“I will depart others to attempt to discover that space first,” the AlphaTauri driver mentioned.

“I feel I would like the monitor time, so I will construct up into my rhythm as a result of, particularly on these tracks, the evolution is big.

“You’ve your first observe nonetheless at comparatively sizzling temperatures, after which the monitor is continually enhancing, so that you positively want the monitor time on a road monitor.”