De Vries goes ‘home’ to Formula E after F1 exit
LONDON – Nyck de Vries will return to the all-electric Formula E series with India’s Mahindra next season in a move the 2020-21 world champion said felt like coming home after a failed switch to Formula One.
The team announced on Wednesday the 28-year-old Dutch driver had signed a multi-year contract to partner Swiss-born Edoardo Mortara from the 10th season that will start in Mexico City in January.
Pre-season testing starts in Valencia, Spain, next month.
“It’s an environment I know, I’ve raced in the championship for three years and I’ve experienced highs and lows and know many faces. So that feels like coming home,” de Vries told Reuters from the team factory in Banbury, England.
“I was really taken by the plans (team boss) Fred (Bertrand) has for the present and the future and I really believe in that project together.”
Mahindra struggled last season, the start of the sport’s Gen3 era, and finished 10th out of 11 teams with an unreliable and uncompetitive car.
De Vries, who won his title with now-departed Mercedes, said he felt the ingredients were now in place for future success.
“The team has had a tough start to Gen3, we can’t avoid that, but equally there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to make a good progress from there,” added the winner of four ePrix.
“We have some strong fundamentals and assets here already.”
The Dutch driver started 10 grands prix with Red
Bull-owned AlphaTauri without scoring a point this season before being replaced by experienced Australian Daniel Ricciardo.
He had scored points with a ninth place for Williams on his Formula One debut a year ago as an Italian Grand Prix stand-in for unwell Alex Albon.
De Vries took a negotiation and leadership course at Harvard Law School after losing his F1 seat, a move he said was “purely done out of curiosity and interest to learn and acquire new skills”.